Casey Stoner

The 2007 World Champion won the first race of the season in Qatar ahead of defending champion Jorge Lorenzo and his team mate Dani Pedrosa.

This was his fourth win out of last five races in Qatar and his first for his new team Repsol Honda.

Stoner said: “After a great pre-season, we came into this race weekend and everything kept getting better and better for us. Dani came past and I decided to follow to see where he was strong and where I was weak. Then when I started to feel more confident with the bike and had more grip and better turning, we decided to push forwards and take advantage. Tonight the bike was fantastic, as it has been for all the sessions and I’m very proud to take my first victory in the first race. It is a great way to start the season.”

The nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi debuted for Ducati and finished at seventh position. It was not a good performance by Rossi as he was low at pace.

Another debutant Crutchlow put in a good effort as he finished at a commendable 11th position.

Crutchlow was riding with an injury after he lost the tip of his little finger in a crash last week and the 25-year-old was pleased with his debut race.

He said: “I’m pretty happy with that but honestly I’d have liked to have got a top 10 after how well qualifying went. I was happy to be in the fight for the top 10 for as long as I was and the experience gained is invaluable to help me progress in MotoGP. I wanted to finish and get a race under my belt, so it was mission accomplished. The next couple of races will be tough because I don’t know the circuits but I’ll be doing my best.”

Rossi will be waiting for the next race which is in Spain on 3rd April to prove his potential with the new team.

Tags: Cal Crutchlow, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, MotoGP, Qatar, Repsol Honda, Valentino Rossi