Qatar MotoGP 2011 - Searing Stoner makes winning bow

AUSTRALIAN Casey Stoner made a winning start to life at Honda in the opening MotoGP event of the 2011 season.  Stoner, who switched from Ducati to the Repsol Honda squad in the winter, took the honours in the Qatar Grand Prix at the Losail circuit.  The 2007 champion beat reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo and his team-mate Dani Pedrosa under the lights.

WINNING: Stoner made a great start with Honda

     Stoner started on pole position, as he confirmed Honda’s blinding pre-season testing pace.  However, he lost the lead off the line to the fast-starting Pedrosa and Lorenzo, who led over the line for the first time.  The Spaniard was eventually overwhelmed by the Honda boys and Stoner and Pedrosa swapped themselves around on several occasions in the early exchanges.  Stoner was saving his tyres up and made the move stick at around half-distance.  Pedrosa fell back rather rapidly, and then got engrossed into a brutal battle with his countryman Lorenzo.  Eventually, the Yamaha rider prevailed and whilst Stoner and Lorenzo looked delighted with their opening efforts, Pedrosa was annoyed, confirming he had a problem with his left arm, which harmed his chances in his battle with Lorenzo.

     Honda dominated the first race, with the third Repsol Honda rider, Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth, ahead of Marco Simoncelli, who gave Dovizioso some headaches during the race.  Ducati were off the pace badly here, but Valentino Rossi still managed a creditable seventh on his opening bow for the Italian team.  Rossi also produced the save of the race, when he took his legs off his bike when Ben Spies overtook him to stop the frontend sliding away from him.  On his debut in the premier motorcycling class, Cal Crutchlow finished a creditable 10^th.  It was a miserable evening for the Premac Honda team, with Randy de Puniet crashing on the first lap, and Loris Capirossi injuring himself as he attempted to miss his team-mate.  At least they started, which is something Alvaro Bautista couldn’t do.  He crashed on Friday and broke his left leg.  With John Hopkins unable to get out to Qatar in time, it meant that Suzuki were without a rider in the top class for the first time since 1974.

     On this indication, Casey Stoner looks like he will be the man to beat in MotoGP this year, but he has never been very competitive at the next track in Jerez.  Throw in the lack of straights and it being Lorenzo and Pedrosa’s home event, Casey will do extremely well to produce his Qatar dominance again in a fortnight’s time.