The 2009 season will be a matter of learning as quickly as possible for Yuki Takahashi in MotoGP, the Scot Racing Team rider who has moved up into the premier class from the 250cc category this year. The 24 year-old found the going tough at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, qualifying down in 17th position as he continues to acquire the art of 800cc riding. He nonetheless rode a steady race on Monday night, concentrating on avoiding errors, gaining experience from the competitors around him and ultimately picking his first – albeit solitary – MotoGP point in the process.
On his run to 15th place at the Losail International Circuit, in his first MotoGP appearance, the Japanese rider commented, “The best came at the end, when I had a chance to follow Marco Melandri for a long while. I studied him, and I got a lot of information about how to deal with the front tyre and about braking points. Obviously this was just my first race in the class. Not only that, but I’d never done a long run before.”
Reviewing his maiden Grand Prix amongst the big boys overall, the former 250cc race-winner added, “I'm satisfied. My target was learning the bike and how to compete against the best riders in the world. How to deal in the heat of the first laps, and strategies, and tactics. At the beginning of the race I lost a little time, but I didn’t want to make any silly mistakes. And at the end I was able to keep the same pace of the riders who were in the first groups. Now I can prepare for my home race, in just over a week, in Japan.” ref[motogp.com] Read More......
Nicky Hayden is confident that his season will now improve after shrugging off his injuries to take 12th in the Qatar Grand Prix. The former world champion had an extremely tough first racing weekend with Ducati, suffering sensor problems on his race bike then clutch issues on both bikes on Friday, before an engine failure in final practice and then a massive high-side at the end of qualifying. Despite back pain and a chest wound from that crash, he decided to race and came through from 16th on the grid to finish 12th, picking up pace considerably in the closing stages. Hayden said his late-race speed gave him confidence that the worst was now behind him. "It's been a tough weekend and we've had a lot of issues - obviously a 130mph high-side doesn't help things but nothing really went smooth," he said. "In the beginning of the race I was quite slow, I didn't get a great start but actually as the fuel load changed and I got a better feeling I got faster and faster and the last five or six laps were my fastest of the whole weekend. "It would have been nice to nick Dani (Pedrosa) at the end there but I think the team have showed that even though a lot of stuff has gone against us this weekend we're not going to give up. "Hopefully the bad stuff is behind us now." He added that team-mate Casey Stoner's victory had shown him what is possible once he has fully acclimatised to the Desmosedici GP9. "Casey has shown the potential of the bike, so crazy as it sounds I'm leaving here in a really positive mood and looking forward to Motegi," Hayden said. ref[AS] Read More......
Casey Stoner completed a perfect extended weekend in Qatar by winning the delayed MotoGP season-opener in commanding fashion on Monday evening, taking his third consecutive victory at Losail.
The Ducati Marlboro rider, who also topped every session of the night event, beat reigning champion Valentino Rossi thanks to a perfect start from pole and a blistering pace that forced the Italian to give up the chase midway through the 22-lap race.
Behind Stoner's perfect start, Loris Capirossi made a fine getaway from fifth with his Rizla Suzuki to slot into second, ahead of the Fiat Yamahas of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, with the two teammates exchanging position twice during the first lap. In the space of two laps Stoner's lead over Capirossi was close to three seconds already, but by that time the Italian veteran was being caught by Rossi, who passed him on the third lap. While Capirossi started dropping back, with Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso and Lorenzo overtaking him before the former Ducati rider crashed on lap eight, Rossi began his chase of Stoner. The gap between the two decreased to just under two seconds, before Rossi's pace started faltering on lap 11. By the end of the race Stoner had almost eight seconds on Rossi, who could however manage a sizeable lead on third-placed Lorenzo, who took the final podium place. Colin Edwards classified his Tech-3 Yamaha in fourth place, ahead of Dovizioso in fifth and Alex de Angelis in sixth. The Gresini rider, however, is under investigation for banging his satellite Honda into Dani Pedrosa's factory entry while taking seventh place. The Spaniard managed to keep the bike up straight despite the strong collision, just after he was overtaken by Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki for sixth place. Up until then, Pedrosa was having a strong race from 14th on the grid, despite still recovering from a wrist injury. Vermeulen classified seventh, ahead of an impressive showing by Pramac Ducati rookie Mika Kallio and Toni Elias on the Honda Gresini. LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet completed the top ten. Behind Pedrosa, who finished 11th, Nicky Hayden took 12th place in his debut race for Ducati Marlboro, with MotoGP returnee Sete Gibernau 13th with his Hernando Ducati. Marco Melandri managed to salvage two points with his Hayate Kawasaki after he lost plenty of time in the gravel because of an off at the beginning of lap two.
Valentino Rossi admitted that he decided to settle for a safe second place in Qatar after realising that Casey Stoner was uncatchable. The Ducati rider made an early break while Rossi fought back up to second having lost out to Loris Capirossi and Jorge Lorenzo at the start. Although Rossi initially reduced Stoner's two-second lead, the Australian was able to pull away later on and ultimately won by nearly eight seconds. "It's a shame. We lost too much on the first lap, while Stoner was very good," Rossi told Italia1 television. "But after that I was making up the gap, and maybe I could have caught him, but after yesterday's rain the asphalt became a bit more aggressive, and I had some small problems with the front tyre, so at one point I had to decide whether I should crash or give up. "So I thought a bit, and since we knew we were a bit on the limit, I gave up. Well done to Stoner, he was quick and he deserved the win. In any case we're second, we've demonstrated that we can go quick, so see you at Motegi." Rossi reckoned he would have been in better shape to attack Stoner had the race gone ahead as planned on Sunday night. "More than strategy, Stoner and I have a different way to approach the race, the way we do practice and the way we set up the bike," he said. "Probably it would have been better had we raced last night because we were in better shape and we were closer. While after yesterday's rain the asphalt was a bit more aggressive, and this morning we already had some small problems with the tyres. "Unfortunately I lost a bit too much time with Loris and Lorenzo, while Stoner went super quick from the start and built a big gap. But then we had five, six or seven laps when I enjoyed myself because I was going very quick and I was feeling well. I managed to get under two seconds and the race was still long then. "However after that I started having a few problems too many, so I had to decide whether to crash or to finish second. I thought about that for half a lap and I decided it was better to finish second." Rossi pointed out that Stoner was always likely to be tough to beat at Losail, having dominated at the circuit for the past three seasons. "Stoner has always gone very quick here and he's won here for the last three years, so this is a track where he can give his maximum," he said. "We are quick, we are fairly sorted, we can do better, so I'll see you in two weeks' time in Motegi. Last year I was very very quick there, so let's see if I can do it this year too."
Dani Pedrosa had one of the more eventful races of his premier class career in Qatar, and certainly earned his eventual five point haul from the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship season. Riding injured, the Spaniard very nearly saw his race ended in a collision with Alex de Angelis, and had some harsh words for the San Marino rider after coming home eleventh. “He came straight into me, I was in front and he came into me to close me down. (He showed…) no respect, but life will return the favour to him,” seethed the Repsol Honda rider, who had been battling with De Angelis and Chris Vermeulen at the time of the incident. Vermeulen had passed him, but De Angelis’ attempted opportunism led to his touching the Repsol Honda rider and facing a meeting with the stewards following the race. For Pedrosa –far from fully fit after leg and arm surgery- the collision severely affected his ability to take further positions and could have added another niggle to his list of injuries. “After eight or nine laps at the front I started to have some vibration, and I don’t know why that was. Finally I started to lose a lot of grip, and when De Angelis touched me I began to have pain in my shoulder. It’s probably nothing, but I will get it checked out anyway.” Pedrosa eventually held onto eleventh place from former teammate Nicky Hayden in a drag to the line.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati 42m53.984s 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 7.771s 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 16.244s 4. Colin Edwards Yamaha + 24.410s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 27.263s 6. Alex de Angelis Honda + 29.883s 7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 33.627s 8. Mika Kallio Ducati + 34.755s 9. Toni Elias Honda + 39.481s 10. Randy de Puniet Honda + 42.284s 11. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 48.526s 12. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 48.883s 13. Sete Gibernau Ducati + 52.215s 14. Marco Melandri Kawasaki + 56.379s 15. Yuki Takahashi Honda +1m00.286s 16. James Toseland Yamaha +1m14.978s 17. Niccolo Canepa Ducati +1m15.028s
Retirements: Rider Bike Laps Loris Capirossi Suzuki 7 ref [AS]
The Grand Prix of Qatar has been postponed to a Monday night slot after a Sunday night downpour at Losail forced the opening round of the MotoGP season to be called off. The race, scheduled to start at 11pm local time, was delayed just as the riders were about to start the formation lap, and got cancelled half an hour later, when the rain intensified. The riders were concerned that, as well as the track being covered in standing water, visibility would be almost non-existent as the light from the floodlights reflected off the water and spray. A midnight meeting between the teams and the organisers resulted in the decision to postpone the race to a 9pm local time slot on Monday, following a new warm-up at 6:30pm. The 125cc event had already been truncated after only four laps, with riders being awarded half points, while the 250cc round was also forced to be shortened to 13 laps to allow the MotoGP race to start on time. The decision to postpone until Monday evening received a mixed response from riders. Pole-sitter Casey Stoner is concerned that the weather could intervene again, although current forecasts suggest better conditions tomorrow night. "This is not a good idea," Stoner told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We have no guarantee it won't rain. Today's downpour has also brought sand over the track, so there's also a safety risk." But Hayate Kawasaki rider Marco Melandri felt that having travelled to Qatar and gone through practice and qualifying it made more sense to race on Monday than to reschedule for later in the season, amid suggestions that Losail should take the September slot left vacant by the Hungarian GP's cancellation. "For sure I would like to race tomorrow and go on holiday in September," Melandri told the official MotoGP website. "We are here, we've been testing for days, and we are ready. It's going to be hard to change all the plans but I don't want to go back home - I want to race, because I've had a smell of the race and then had to come back into the garage." Read More......
