The opening race of the day and the first ever Grand Prix in Qatar saw the closest ever finish in the history of the sport, with
Jorge Lorenzo taking 125cc victory by less than a thousandth of a second over Andrea Dovizioso.
Lorenzo started from pole position but got involved in a four rider battle for victory which was reduced to three when
Casey Stoner retired on the ninth lap.
Alvaro Bautista then led the way but himself suffered from a technical problem near the end of the race and had to settle for third, leaving an historic head-to-head between Lorenzo and Dovizioso.
With Hector Barberá struggling to twelfth place and Roberto Locatelli back in twentieth, Dovizioso can now secure the title with third place in Malaysia next week.
125cc Qatar Grand Prix – top ten:1. Lorenzo (Derbi)
2. Dovizioso (Honda) +0.000secs
3. Bautista (Aprilia) +4.018secs
4. Kallio (KTM) +18.753secs
5. Lai (Gilera) +35.458secs
6. Nieto (Aprilia) +37.89secs
7. Simon (Honda) +39.023secs
8. Borsoi (Aprilia) +39.409secs
9. Pasini (Aprilia) +42.901secs
10. Giansanti (Aprilia) +42.918secs