A Little Night Racing: MotoGP Kicks Off '08 Season with First Ever Competition Under the Stars
MotoGP just launched the 2008 season in Qatar with its first ever night race, ushering in what promises to be a thrilling season.
Thanks to cooler temperatures, the 22 lap competition saw higher speeds that beat the race record by almost 30 seconds. Reigning champ Casey Stoner (pictured here; click to enlarge) took the top spot for the Ducati Marlboro Team, followed by Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, a 20 year-old who was the first GP newcomer in 10 years to qualify with pole position (!). Lorenzo's teammate and seven time world champion Valentino Rossi finished a disappointing fifth, after a frustrating battle for fourth with rookie Andrea Dovizioso who edged him out by a mere seven thousandths of a second.
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa rounded out the podium with third place, and World Superbike champ and GP rookie James Toseland made an impressive debut with a sixth place finish on his Yamaha.
After this exciting season opener, are you rooting for the feisty rookies or the MotoGP establishment? Share your thoughts, and comment if you plan on attending either of the two U.S. MotoGP races this year.
Photo © Ryan Pierse - Staff / Getty Images SportClick to enlarge
Comments
Great race, although not a good one to judge the rest of the season by. 1st race, temps were low…
The rookies sure stepped up!
Toseland said something interesting a while ago. “I’m glad Stoner is the only one who can ride that @#$%^&! Ducati”
That would seem to have some validity…Like last year, where were the other 3? Regardless, the others are gonna have to get on it or he looks capable of running away again. Did Rossi blow it switching tires?
I run a MotoGP Pool with about 2 dozen friends and co-workers and the bench racing is great fun!
We have our tickes and reservations for IMS..can’t wait!
What a disater for Honda @ Daytona!
Pete,
I was wondering the same thing about Rossi’s tire switch, but Stoner’s on Bridgestones, too!
Yeah, bummer about Honda at Daytona… I just read that Honda will be appealing the DQ, so I guess it ain’t over ’till it’s over.
Basem
Oh yeah…the tire thing is gonna real interesting! Despite being accused by some of whining (no one has used the term ‘Prima Donna’ yet), I think Rossi is the greatest rider ever parked his butt on a race bike. He has made 2 very profound observations…
1 - There are Rossi fans and Stoner fans and Pedrosa fans, as well as Honda fans, Yamaha fans and Ducati fans…but no one gives a damn about tires. May be a good case to level the playing field? Look what it’s done for WSBK!
2 - Electronics have dumbed down rider skill. Traction Control might be a fine safety device but it takes God like skill to use 250hp without it. Note - F1 dropped it…now we find out who knows how to drive a car!
F1 turned into a technology development platform and lost sight of the driver…and became about as exciting as watching paint dry.
MGP is only a hairs breadth away from the same fate. I hope they turn it around. It ain’t boring yet!!
Or … is Rossi old school enough that he can’t adapt to all the new fangled contraptions? If he is, then so am I because racing was a lot more fun to watch with tire smoking exits!
I’ll pick margin for error and rider skill over automatic, video game-like racing any day, but the flip side is the danger of no-holds-barred horsepower… maybe a lower horsepower limit and no traction control?
The flipside of that equation, however, is the trickle-down of traction control into street bikes (a la ZX-10R, and 1098R, for starters.) Pretty soon, it won’t cost $40k to get full traction control on a literbike where it needs it the most: in civilian hands.
Absolutely true…on both counts. However - if a rider has made it to that level and not yet got their head wrapped around the danger, they may be in the wrong profession.
TC showing up on 180hp street bikes…now that is worthwhile venture…especially for wet roads. Further to my previous rant though..if it’s not developed on the race track, where then does it come from? It’s not going to come off a dyno. Kind of a Catch-22.
A night race? You mean they actually race at night? Awesome, totally! Wouldn’t it be cool if the night they raced there was a full moon?
Basem…good points, but I figure if a rider has made it to that level and they do not yet have their head wrapped around the whole danger issue, they may have chosen the wrong line of work. ‘Sides…too much HP is almost enough!
TC working it’s way on to 180HP street bikes is definitely a good thing. That kind of flies in the face of not using GP as a technology test bed doesn’t it? Where else is TC going to come from?….certainly not a dyno.