Rossi takes Qatar win

125GP: Alvaro Bautista took his second win of the season in 125 GPs with a photo finish between Mika Kallio and Sergio Gadea for second place with Kallio just taking the higher step by 1/100th of a second.

Final positions:

Alvaro Bautista

Mika Kallio

Sergio Gadea

Mattia Pasini

Pablo Nieto

Kector Faubel

Angel Rodriguez

Thomas Luthi

Simone Corsi

Julian Simon

Gabor Talmacsi

Raffaela de Rosa

Andrea Iannone

Fabrisio Lai

Tomoyashi Koyama

Nicolas Terol

Aleix Espargaro

Michele Pirro

Manuel Hernandez

Vincent Braillard

Lorenzo Zanetti

Bradley Smith

Simone Grotzkyj

Karel Abraham

Mateo Tunez

Stefan Bradl

Joey Litjens

Michele Conti

Roberto Tamburini

Lorenzo Baroni

DNF

Lukas Pesek

Federico Sandi

Imre Toth

Michael Ranseder

Sandro Cortese

Joan Olive

Mike de Meglio

Qatar 125cc GP second qualifying:

Alvaro Bautista will start from pole position alongside his MVA Aspar Aprilia team-mate Matia Pasini on Sunday. The Spaniard posted the best time of 2:07.453, demoting Pasini and eventual third-place qualifier Mika Kallio on the KTM. Sergio Gadea will start fourth, with the Derbi of Lukas Pesek fifth. Reigning world champion Thomas Luthi will start from 15th on the grid, with Britain’s Bradley Smith in 32nd.

1. Alvaro Bautista 2:07.453.

2. Mattia Pasini 2:07.628.

3. Mika Kallio 2:07.676.

4. Sergio Gades 2:07.693.

5. Lukas Pesek 2:07.872.

6. Gabor Talmacsi 2:07.877.

7. Pablo Nieto 2:07.923.

8. Joan Olive 2:08.153.

9. Hector Faubel 2:08.156.

10. Julian Simon 2:08.220.

11. Anegel Rodriguez 2:08.309.

12. Andrea iannone 2:08.785.

13. Lorenzo Zanetti 2:08.827.

14. Federico Sandi 2:08.835.

15. Thomas Luthi 2:08.843.

16. Raffaele De Rosa 2:08.986

17. Sandro cortese 2:09.227.

18. Simone Corsi 2:09.274.

19. Tomoyoshi Koyama 2:09.469.

20. Mike Di Meglio 2:09.743.

21. Fabrizio Lai 2:10.036.

22. Bradley Smith 2:10.135.

23. Alex Espargaro 2:10.174.

24. Michele Pirro 2:10.176.

25. Mateo Tunez 2:10.337.

26. Manuel Hernandez 2:10.517.

27. Imre Toth 2:10.546.

28. Nicolas Terol 2:10.606.

29. Simone Grotzkyj 2:10.838.

30. Vincent Braillard 2:10.860.

31. Michael Ranseder 2:11.295.

32. Stefan bradl 2:11.421.

33. Lorenzo Baroni 2:11.557.

34. Michele Conti 2:12.008.

35. Joey Litjens 2:12.332.

36. Roberto Tamburini 2:13.377.

DNQ: Karel Abraham. Alexis Masbou.

Qatar 125cc GP first qualifying:

British fans can cheer for Bradley Smith who has qualified 20th in 125cc first qualifying on his first visit to the Losail circuit. Pole was taken Mattia Pasini who heads his three MVA Aspar team-mates in the first four places on the provisional grid. Second fastest was Sergio Gadea, followed by Alvaro Bautista and Hector Faubel.

1. Mattia Pasini 2:07.628.

2. Sergio Gadea 2:07.881.

3. Alvaro Bautista 2:07.926.

4. Hector Faubel 2:08.277.

5. Lukas Pesek 2:08.419.

6. Mika Kallio 2:08.436.

7. Julian Simon 2:08.857.

8. Gabor Talmacsi 2:08.989.

9. Pablo Nieto 2:09.139.

10. Joan Olive 2:09.189.

11. Angel Rodriguez 2:09.312.

12. Raffaele De Rosa 2:09.645.

13. Fabrizio Lai 2:09.674.

14. Mike Di Meglio 2:09.713.

15. Simone Corsi 2:09.774.

16. Thomas Luthi 2:09.802.

17. Lorenzo Zanetti 2:09.868.

18. Sandro Cortese 2:09.983.

19. Andrea Iannone 2:10.276.

20. Bradley Smith 2:10.535.

21. Federico Sandi 2:10.758.

22. Michele Pirro 2:10.809.

23. Tomoyoshi Koyama 2:10.896.

24. Lorenzo Baroni 2:10.943.

25. Imre Toth 2:10.946.

26. Alex Espargaro 2:11.266.

27. Vincent Braillard 2:11.303.

28. Nicolas Terol 2:11.474.

29. Karel Abraham 2:11.598.

30. Stefan Bradl 2:11.600.

31. Manuel Hernandez 2:11.783.

32. Michael Ranseder 2:12.054.

33. Simone Grotskyj 2:12.160.

34. Mateo Tunez 2:12.866.

35. Michele Conti 2:13.036.

36. Joey Litjens 2:14.716.

27. Alexis Masbou 2:15.095.

28. Roberto Tamburini 2:15.173.

Valentino Rossi has won the second race in the MotoGP season despite struggling in qualifying.

Rookie Casey Stoner started from pole position and managed to lead for the first third of the race but he couldn’t keep up the relentless pace and was forced to surrender the lead to the reigning champion on lap 10, eventually finishing the race in fifth.
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Nicky Hayden briefly managed to take the lead from Rossi but the Yamaha rider’s skill shone through and despite his ongoing difficulties with the bike Rossi pushed forward and eventually finished the race more than a second ahead of Hayden’s Honda.
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Capirossi took the final place on the podium, cementing his lead in the championship, with his Ducati team-mate Sete Gibernau just behind in fourth.

Kenny Roberts put in an impressive performance to finish in 10th on the Team Roberts KR211V Honda engined privateer bike while Brit James Ellison put in his most promising performance yet finishing in 13th place ahead of Makoto Tamada, Alex Hofmann and Jose Luis Cadoso.

Final positions:

Valentino Rossi

Nicky Hayden

Loris Capirossi

Sete Gibernau

Casey Stoner

Dani Pedrosa

Marco Melandri

Toni Elias

Colin Edwards

Kenny Roberts

Shinya Nakano

Calos Checa

James Ellison

Makoto Tamada

Alex Hofmann

Jose Luis Cardoso

DNF

Chris Vermeulen

John Hopkins

Randy de Puniet

Qualifying:

Qualifying for Saturday’s Qatar MotoGP finished with Casey Stoney smashing last year’s pole with an astonishing 1.55.683.

The Honda rider stole pole from Ducati’s Loris Capirossi mid-way through the session. And despite Capirossi’s best efforts in the final minutes of qualifying, the Australian’s best proved good enough.
Interviewed straight after claiming his first pole (in only his second MotoGP) Stoner revealed he didn’t even particularly like the circuit. He’d found it ‘slippery and difficult’. And that’s despite the fact that he dominated the free practice sessions, too.

Check below for all the times from qualifying and free practice – plus news from the 125s and 250s. Check back for updates throughout Friday and Saturday.

MotoGP qualifying final times:

1 C. Stoner (AUS) Honda LCR 1:55.683

2 L. Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1:55.721

3 A. Elias (ESP) Honda 1:55.735

4 N. Hayden (USA) Honda 1:55.793

5 D. Pedrosa (ESP) Honda 1:56.009

6 V. Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1:56.076

7 S. Gibernau (ESP) Ducati 1:56.177

8 C. Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:56.230

9 S. Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki 1:56.237

10 K. Roberts (USA) KR Honda 1:56.272

11 C. Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1:56.358

12 M. Melandri (ITA) Honda 1:56.822

13 J. Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1:56.901

14 M. Tamada (JPN) Honda 1:57.091

15 C. Checa (ESP) Yamaha 1:57.299

16 R. De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1:57.822

17 J. Ellison (ENG) Yamaha 1:58.674

18 A. Hofmann (GER) Ducati 1:59.591

19 J. Cardoso (ESP) Ducati 1:59.733

125s and 250s on page 2 and 3

FP3 times: (dry, 30 degrees)

1. Stoner 1.56.329

2. Edwards 1.56.862

3. Rossi 1.56.871

4. Elias 1.57.009

5. Pedrosa 1.57.050

6. Roberts Jr 1.57.148

7. Gibernau 1.57.358

8. Melandri 1.57.439

9. Hayden 1.57.550

10 Capirossi 1.57.579

11 Hopkins 1.57.756

12 Vermeulen 1.58.256

13 Checa 1.58.521

14 Nakano 1.58.941

15 De Puniet 1.59.294

17 Ellison 1.59.899
Get the full story of the MotoGP weekend with Matthew Birt’s exclusive coverage only in MCN – out on Wednesday, April 12.
FP2 times (dry, 27 degrees)

1. Roberts Jr 1.56.905

2. Stoner 1.56.911

3. Melandri 1.57.010

4. Edwards 1.57.024

5. Capirossi 1.57.031

6. Rossi 1.57.141

7. Pedrosa 1.57.360

8. Elias 1.57.392

9. Hayden 1.57.452

10 Gibernau 1.57.569

11 Checa 1.57.992

12 Vermeulen 1.58.783

13 Nakano 1.58.786

14 Hopkins 1.58.892

15 Hofmann 1.59.245

17 Ellison 1.59.620

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FP1 times were:

1. Stoner: 1.57.555

2. Rossi 1.57.774

3 Edwards 1.57.781

4 Capirossi 1.57.950

5. Hayden 1.57.971

6. Melandri 1.58.056

7 Roberts Jr 1.58.626

8 Elias 1.58.630

9 Pedrosa 1.59.097

10 Nakano 1.59.229

11 Hopkins 1.59.385

12 Gibernau 1.59.988

13 Vermeulen 2.00.011

14 Checa 2.00.021

15 Cardosa 2.00.257

17 Ellison 2.00.813

For 250s and 125s see next pages…

250GP: Jorge Lorenzo won the second race of the season for Fortuna Aprilia just managing to hold off Andrea Dovizioso.

The two riders broke away from the pack early on but had a close fight throughout the race and Dovizioso finished just 0.077 seconds behind Lorenzo, desperately trying to take him on the line.

Roberto Locatelli put in a fantastic performance taking third place on the podium after running of the track early in the race and having to fight his way back through the field.

Final Positions:

Jorge Lorenzo

Andrea Dovizioso

Roberto Locatelli

Hector Barbera

Hiroshi Aoyama

Sylvain Guintoli

Seb Porto

Marco Simoncelli

Yuki Takahashi

Jakub Smrz

Martin Cardenas

Andrea Ballerini

Shuhei Aoyama

Manuel Poggiali

Dirk Heidolf

Arnaud Vincent

Chaz Davies

Luca Morelli

Michele Danese

Alessio Palumbo

DNF

Jordi Carchano

Jules Cluzel

Anthony West

Arturo Tizon

Alex Baldolini

Alex de Angelis

250cc GP second qualifying:

The Fortuna Aprilia team has qualifed first and second for the Qatar GP with Jorge Lorenzo heading team-mate Hector Barbera. Lorenzo posted a time of 2:01.755, which Barbera couldn’t manage despite a last lap time of 2:02.113. Third on the grid will be Roberto Locatelli, on the Team Toth Aprilia, and Alex De Angelis makes if four Aprilias in a row for Humangest Racing.

Britain’s Chaz Davies qualified in 23rd place with 2:06.350, 10 places and two seconds behind stand-in team-mate Andrea Ballerini.

1. Jorge Lorenzo 2:01.755.

2. Hector Barbera 2:02.113.

3. Roberto Locatelli 2:02.198.

4. Alex De Angelis 2:02.424.

5. Andrea Dovizioso 2:02.552.

6. Jakub Smrz 2:02.902.

7. Hiroshi Aoyama 2:03.031.

8. Sebastien Porto 2:03.131.

9. Manuel Poggiali 2:03.426.

10. Sylvain Guintoli 2:03.548.

11. Yuki Takahashi 2:03.589.

12. Anthony West 2:03.606.

13. Andrea Ballerini 2:04.039.

14. Dirk Heidolf 2:04.164.

15. Shuhei Aoyama 204.347.

16. Jules Cluzel 2:04.384.

17. Marco Simoncelli 2:04.426.

18. Alex Baldolini 2:04.456.

19. Arnaud Vincent 2:05.092.

20. Martin Cardenas 2:05.117.

21. Arturo Tizon 2:05.835.

22. Jordi Carchano 2:06.273.

23. Chaz Davies 2:06.350.

24. Alessio palumbo 2:06.583.

25. Luca Morelli 2:06.802.

26. Michele Danese 2:07.260.

250cc GP first qualifying:

In the 250cc GP class, Britain’s Chaz Davies is in 23rd position, well inside the qualification time, but three seconds behind stand-in team-mate Andrea Ballerini, suggesting that the Italian may have inherited the fully-kitted Aprilia of the injured Taro Sekiguchi, leaving Davies back on a near stock bike. Pole was taken by Hector Barbera with 2:02.081, from Jorge Lorenzo and Alex De Angelis.

1. Hector Barbera 2:02.081.

2. Jorge Lorenzo 2:02.356.

3. Alex de Angelis 2:02.359.

4. Sebastien Porto 2:02.452.

5. Roberto Locatelli 2:02.757.

6. Andrea Dovizioso 2:03.278.

7. Jakub Smrz 2:03.403.

8. Hiroshi Aoyama 2:03.688.

9. Yuki Takahashi 2:03.819.

10. Marco Simoncelli 2:03.827.

11. Shuhei Aoyama 2:04.396.

12. Dirk Heidolf 2:04.623.

13. Arnaud Vincent 2:04.662.

14. Sylvain Guintoli 2:04.860.

15. Andrea Ballerini 2:04.883.

16. Arturo Tizon 2:04.884.

17. Martin Cardenas 2:04.951.

18. Alex Baldolini 2:05.195.

19. Manuel Poggiali 2:05.248.

20. Jordi Carchano 2:07.427.

21. Jules Cluzel 2:07.772.

22. Luca Morelli 2:07.804.

23. Chaz Davies 2:07.849.

24. Michele danese 2:08.310.

DNQ: Alessio Palumbo. Anthony West.