Stoner fights through for night victory.

Well done to JT!!! what a ride and amazing to be so close so soon on a bike that was visibly slower on the straights than those around him!! What a start.

ALso well done Dovi and Pedrosa.... The guy is quality. No testing and what a start.. a real contender for sure hopefully stoner won't have it all is own way for long.. Although good ride by him and Lorenso.

Oh dear Rossi though!! Needs to be better in Jerez or the tyre argument from last year aint gonna cut it this ye****

Roll on Jerez!!!! ;)

WOw I never knew the word year was offensive!!!

Night races only makes this a european sport (sport is the right word - advertising business) - less safe - increases power of bike due to cold air intake and worst of all the the pit girl and all covered up, bad bad bad everyway you look at it.

**** the MotoGP, the World SBK is my drug of choice now

trouble is with you lot you just see riders going round a track, i like the technical side and could see rossi was having grip problems,there was alot of movement in his bike in the corners where as dani, casey, lorenzo where much tighter in the corners so open your eyes before you point the finger.
rossi was quick pace straight away and that faded it was definate lack of grip, wrong tyre choice ? i dont know but he seem to lose his rythym.
congrates to stoner and lorenzo.
just face it if the rider has lack of grip or makes a wrong tyre choice they wouldnt finish first either whoever the rider is,casey, dani,lorenzo, etc it doesnt matter its about the technical side as much as the rider

Rossi could have been on the podium (even won) if he was on Michelans.
Theres no bias in that statement..

Very true Jason

To bad rossi cant win now,must be because there is competition now in gp.All his other GP titles were givins now he gets flustered when he has someone on his ***!If he was a real champ he would no what tyre to use after so many ye**** ;)

I am Rossi fan,but it is amazing how Stoner uses that Ducati,really it is the whole package,him,Ducati and tyres...although i hate to say it... But i hope next race it will be different story... Lorenzo was excellent.yamahas are finaly good

very good josh and how many times have motogp races been at night and in these very low tempratures??? oh yes i forgot never so he must be psychic??? he has no expierience with bridgestone and night racing.....
another comment from someone who knows nothing technical.....
rossi was in the lead surely you could see the grip problem ???

"he has no expierience with bridgestone and night racing..... "

Neither did anyone else. EVERYONE was in the same situation. I recognize Rossi's talents, but Im sick of seeing the excuses at rossi.net, sorry crash.net. You can if and but all day in racing, but the results are what they are. Rossi got beat in 06 and 07. He got beat here. That's it, end of story. Yeah his tires went off, maybe he didn't setup the bike well, maybe he rode to hard, maybe the bike doesn't suite those tires. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Racing is a combination of many factors, but the end of the day when the chequered flag drops that's what goes down in the history books.

You draw a conclusion based on one silly race, give it a rest

FooAtari: 'Neither did anyone else. EVERYONE was in the same situation'.

Wrong: Only Rossi is on a Yamaha on Bridgestones.

All other teams using Bridgestone tyres have data from 2007 and before, whilst conversely, Rossi and the Yamaha team he rides for, does not.

Why do you think Ducati didn't eat their tyres at this track and Rossi did?
Ducati know the Bridgestone tyres properties, Yamaha, do not.

END OF.

All races count for points towards the championship. And again this race was the same for everyone. I am not saying this race is an indicator for the rest of the season, maybe it is maybe it isn't. It who you would expect to be at the front. I expect Lorenzo to be fast every race, he is GOOD. Doesn't change the results of that race though. Again you could come out with the same excuses when a rider doesn't do well. "It was unusually hot this race, wait till next race" "He didn't feel to good wait till next race" "He had a crap back wait till next year", wait heared that one already. How long do you wait? AS it stands this is the only race we have to draw conclusions from

Who wanted to move to Bridgestone Grumpy_Doctor? Rossi only has himself to blame.

I think it was a stupid move, he might have this problem at every race. He has no help, no data from last season, no data from team mates. If he hadn't thrown a hissy fit last year he might have been in a better position at this race. There was no way Michilin were going to bring a shoddy tyre to the races this year, he should have stayed with them...

Anyway this coming from the person who said Melandri was so far off the pace because he had no experience with the Ducati without thinking that Stoner was in exactly the same position last year and kicked everyones ***...

Rossi is very talented. But im getting sick of reading excuse after excuse. Rossi is NOT untoucable there is no reason why some young shot will come along and be able to beat him. YOu could go on for ever bringing in if and buts into racing there are so many factors. When the chequred flag drops those results are what goes into the history books.

By the looks of the comments, Stoner waited for a few laps to pass before moving. It appears that the Ducati is marginal on fuel economy so the strategy appears to be "hang in there, ride "quietly" and then apply all the pressure necessary to perform"

Mike

FooAtari,
I think you are drawing a premature conclusion. You are free to have an opinion ;)

Going with the Bridgestones was the right choice for him. Qatar is a unique situation where Michelin is superior. Big deal, we have a ton of races to go where they are not. If Rossi did as well as he did today on lame tires, just wait until the other races. Rossi will regain the championship this year an you'll all have to eat your words. I knew he'd lose in Qatar. Those Ducs are monsters down that long strait. Just yank on the gas and pass people. It wasn't as bad as last year but still a huge advantage. Props to Casey for staying calm and waiting for the win. He's definitely a more mature rider than in the past

Great first race - Ducati looks strong in hands of Stoner. Rossi is going to have his hands full with Lorenzo this year and because they are on different tyres - its going to difficult for him to find a benchmark Yam for suitable comparisons.

Nice start James - you beat your team mate and showed that on this track you could run with Rossi on inferior machinery!

Exactly what straight did Stoner pass Lorenzo on ?
or for that matter pedrosa ?

Rossi will get better over the season, but he's made life tough for himself being a loner, toseland will be higher up when he gets the decent motor, and will surprise a few, lorenzo and pedrossa have one great disadvantage, they can't race in the wet