Casey
Stoner savoured the Australian national anthem with his eyes firmly
closed under the bright lights of Qatar after taking victory in the
first night race in the history of the sport. The MotoGP World Champion
started the defence of his title from fourth on the grid and had
dropped to fifth by the end of the first lap, before charging through
to set up a stirring battle with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.
The
Spanish rookie proved to be the most difficult obstacle between Stoner
and his eleventh career MotoGP win but by the eighth lap Stoner was in
control and little by little he opened out an insurmountable gap.
Marco
Melandri also produced a determined performance, overcoming the
problems he has encountered over the weekend and setting a good pace -
especially in the second half of the race. In the end he picked up
solid points with eleventh place.
CASEY STONER - 1st (Ducati Marlboro Team)
"That
was a fantastic race and I really enjoyed it - it was like being back
in 125s! The first few laps were really hectic, there were guys bashing
fairings and I just tried to stay out of the way. When I got my chance
to get through I took it and from there I just focused on setting my
pace. Jorge rode brilliantly - it wasn't an easy race by any means,
especially at the start. Over the first few laps I was struggling a bit
for grip but then the tyres got up to temperature and improved. We knew
we had a pretty good package for the race but obviously we couldn't be
sure that things would go as well as that. I want to say thanks to
everybody at Ducati for a great job, my team, the guys at
Bridgestone... Thanks everybody."
MARCO MELANDRI - 11th (Ducati Marlboro Team)
"I
got a great start but a couple of riders got in my way and I lost some
positions. That's normal when you're starting from so far back. Over
the first few laps the feeling with the front wasn't too good and when
I passed Elias I ran pretty wide. The situation improved as the laps
went by and I felt more stable and comfortable. The race was definitely
the highlight of the weekend and that is really encouraging."
