Rossi & Lorenzo joined by Dovizioso on the podium in MotoGP season opener
Honda Motorcycle Press Release - Apr 14, 2010

World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) held off a trio of determined riders to win the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit outside of the Qatari capital of Doha. Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo was second, with Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso speeding to the final podium position with a fine third place finish to start his season.

The race began with Rossi leading, but under pressure from Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who made a lightning fast start from seventh on the grid. Pedrosa took the lead on the second lap before being passed by Ducati rider Casey Stoner.

Stoner, starting from the pole, then sped away and held over a two second lead when he crashed in turn four on lap six.

That put Rossi at the point of the spear, but under pressure from Nicky Hayden (Ducati) and Dovizioso. Not far back were Pedrosa and Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Rossi controlled the pace well past half distance when Dovizioso used Honda power to draft past the world champion on the front straightaway. Rossi soon regained the lead, while Dovizioso and Hayden fought over second. Dovi took the spot on the 19th of 22 laps and was on his way to second when Lorenzo passed him on lap 21. Dovizioso was under the threat of missing out on the podium when Hayden passed Dovi on the last lap. But the second year Repsol Honda powered out of the final corner to take third by .011 secs.

Pedrosa would encounter handling problems and fall back to seventh place, one spot behind LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet. De Puniet, who’d qualified fourth, the top Honda rider, rode a mostly solitary race to sixth, his best result since finishing on the podium in last year’s rain-hit British Grand Prix.

After overcoming a difficult start, Interwetten Honda MotoGP’s Hiroshi Aoyama was involved in a spirited three-way fight with veterans Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and Loris Capirossi, the Italian who was racing in his 300th grand prix. Aoyama was happy to reach his goal of a top ten finish and looked forward to his home grand prix in two weeks at Motegi.

Finishing one position behind Aoyama came San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli, another GP debutant. Simoncelli was happy to finish well into the points after a difficult testing season. The rookie admitted that he needs to better understand the race rubber so as to be more of a threat in the second half of the race when the tyres start to fade.

San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri finished 13th in what he felt was one of the most disappointing races of his career. A problem with the connection between the throttle and the rear tyre made for a long night for the veteran rider. However, Melandri was confident the team could find a solution and put it into place for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi in less than two weeks time.

MotoGP World Championship Grand Prix Round 01 finish at Qatar Grand Prix at Losail

1. Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team)
2. Jorge LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team)
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Repsol Honda Team)
4. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team)
5. Ben SPIES (Monster Yamaha Tech 3)
6. Randy DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP)
7. Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team)
8. Colin EDWARDS (Monster Yamaha Tech 3)
9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP)
10. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Interwetten Honda MotoGP)
11. Marco SIMONCELLI (San Carlo Honda Gresini)
12. Hector BARBERA (Paginas Amarillas Aspar)
13. Marco MELANDRI (San Carlo Honda Gresini)