Like every year, the first warm days of spring excite motorcyclists everywhere as it rings in the new riding season. Furthermore it also marks the beginning of the MotoGP racing season, which with its 18 races beginning in Qatar and in finishing Valencia in November, promises a much desired dose of adrenaline for all fans.

The stage was set in Qatar at the Losail International Circuit this weekend for the opening race, where the world’s top 21 racers competed on the 5.38 miles track for 22 exhilarating laps.

With a great run during qualification, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) started at the pole position, followed by Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). Right off the starting line, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) fired from seventh place to third, and thus completed the action-packed three-way battle at the front. Stoner, the defending world champion, quickly moved into first position with Lorenzo and Pedrosa battling for second place. Chatter issues eventually took their toll on Stoner, as Lorenzo took the lead in the 19th lap, and pulled away. Shortly after, Pedrosa took second place from team-mate Stoner in a spectacular passing move into turn 1, while briefly lifting his rear tire off the tarmac, and subsequently finalizing the podium lineup.

In a tight battle for 4th place, Andrea Dovizioso (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) held back team-mate Cal Crutchlow until the 17th lap when he passed and secured his highest MotoGP placement to date.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati) took 6th place followed by Álvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini) with a time difference of only 0.033 seconds. The 2011 Moto2 World Champion Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) rode an impressive first MotoGP race and finished in 8th place.

Héctor Barberá (Pramac Racing) made a daring move for 6th in the final laps, but ended up overshooting the turn and, after getting back on the track, only placed 9th. A disappointed Valentino Rossi (Ducati) came in tenth after having some technical issues with his Desmosedici in lap 5.

After the first taste of what’s in store for this Grand Prix season, the excitement is high for the next race in Spain at the Gran Premio bwin de España course at Jerez from April 27-29.

Results

Doha, Sunday, April 08, 2012

Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap 1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 166.2 42’44.214 2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 166.1 +0.852 3 16 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 166.0 +2.908 4 13 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.1 +17.114 5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.0 +17.420 6 10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 164.3 +28.413 7 9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 164.3 +28.446 8 8 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 164.3 +29.464 9 7 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 164.2 +31.384 10 6 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 164.0 +33.665 11 5 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 162.6 +56.907 12 4 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 162.5 +58.088 13 3 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 161.7 +1’10.650 14 2 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR 161.4 +1’15.943 15 1 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 160.7 +1’26.733 16 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR 159.7 +1’43.327 17 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 159.5 +1’47.419 18 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 159.2 +1’51.882 Did Not Finish 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 110.6 7 Laps 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 158.8 7 Laps 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 154.0 15 Laps

Photograph source: www.motogp.com