Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar

MotoGP held its long awaited come-back in the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar in April 2010. The return was hugely anticipated and the Losail International Circuit hosted the opening round of the MotoGP season 2010 from the
9^th-11^th April 2010. The action came in full throttle with exhilarating races in the 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP categories.

The riders were not enforced onto the track straight away, in-fact they had a welcome boat ride in the traditional GP pre-event. The scene was set for the forthcoming weekend challenge. A press-conference was held here at the pre-event,
where stars, Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso, Ben Spies and Alvaro Bautista attended the conference.

There were six newcomers in the premier class, in the 17 riders to the grid where they were to compete for the MotoGP title. The track finally came into action with Casey Stoner leading the way with FP1. This very first race was
down-stream for Jorge Lorenzo and Loris Capirossi who both experienced crashes. Loris Capirossi became the first rider to start 300 Grand Prix as he passed the milestone as he got prepared for an incredible 21st season of World Championship racing underway.

Casey Stoner was right on pole position after the qualifying round and his zeal was depictive from the start of the race as well.

Casey Stoner dominated the race in the qualifying session again and secured pole position for the race with Valentino Rossi right behind his tail. Besides MotoGP, the top time in the Moto2 was set by the Gresini Racing rider, Toni
Elias while the Red Bull Ajo Motor-sport star Marc Marquez stood promising on the 125cc.

The Ducati rider Mika Kallio and the Suzuki star Alvaro Bautista did not have a good start as they crashed in the pre-race warm-up. This proved to be bad omen as neither of the two could finish the race on track due to falls.

When the race started, the Australian rider Casey Stoner was in the lead. He dominated the circuit as the race got off to a typically exciting start but he crashed out in the sixth lap while being in the lead. This gave Valentino
Rossi the lead in the first stage of MotoGP that he was able to sustain till the end of the race.

Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo finished right behind him with just over a second difference. The fight for the final podium was between Dovizioso on Honda and Nicky Hayden with Ducati, and by the end Dovizioso managed
to cling to the third place by just 11-thousandths of a second ahead of Hayden.

The overall results for the top ten riders and teams is tabulated below.