If you’re anything like us, and getting on a bit, it’s hard to keep track of time. That Qatar circuit is quite new still, eh? Only been open five years or something? Nope, Losail actually hosted its first MotoGP in 2004, more than a decade ago. Those night races though, they’ve not been going long, have they? Well, the first MotoGP night race was at Losail, in 2008. And the man on the top step that night was Casey Stoner, still the only guy to win a title on the Ducati (in 2007, the first year they ran 800cc bikes)…
Casey Stoner, Qatar MotoGP 2008. Pic: Ducati
Case’s bike was unstoppable the year before, thanks to a killer top end that no-one else could match. The opposition was catching up though – Yamaha rookie Jorge Lorenzo finished second at Qatar, and Valentino Rossi took the ’08 title on his M1.
We’re back to Qatar this week, for the first round of 2015. Casey’s not there, but that other young genius, Marc Marquez is the man on top, for the moment. Can the Yamahas of Lorenzo and Rossi start the fight back against Honda this year? We’ll be finding out soon enough…