Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner has absolutely destroyed the MotoGP opposition at Qatar this evening, finishing ahead of reigning world champion by a whopping eight seconds.
The Aussie got the holeshot and that was the last anyone saw of him. Even multiple world champion Rossi could do nothing about Stoner's pace and he is clearly showing no ill-effects from his wrist surgery.
Stoner opened up a 2.8s lead by the end of lap two which he held until Rossi got into his groove after six laps and reduced the margin to under two seconds.
Then Stoner got the hurry up from his pit crew, put the hammer down and extended his lead for lap after lap until he crossed the line to start the penultimate lap 5.8s ahead. He crossed the line a full 7.7s in front and on the back wheel
Lower down the field Jorge Lorenzo had a brief battle with team-mate Rossi but couldn't keep with the Italian's pace. Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi was in the mix early on but crashed out at half distance.
Monster Yamaha's Colin Edwards took fourth place, some 25s in arrears with Andrea Dovzioso and Alex De Angelis in fifth and sixth. Race direction are investigating a collision between De Angelis and Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa.
Britain's James Toseland finished in 16th after running into the gravel going into turn one.
MotoGP Qatar race result - conditions dry
1 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 42'53.984 165.539
2 20 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 43'01.755 165.041 7.771
3 16 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 43'10.228 164.501 16.244
4 13 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 43'18.394 163.984 24.410
5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43'21.247 163.804 27.263
6 10 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 43'23.867 163.639 29.883
7 9 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 43'27.611 163.404 33.627
8 8 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing DUCATI 43'28.739 163.334 34.755
9 7 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 43'33.465 163.038 39.481
10 6 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 43'36.268 162.864 42.284
11 5 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43'42.510 162.476 48.526
12 4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 43'42.867 162.454 48.883
13 3 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando DUCATI 43'46.199 162.248 52.215
14 2 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team KAWASAKI 43'50.363 161.991 56.379
15 1 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP HONDA 43'54.270 161.751 1'00.286
16 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 44'08.962 160.853 1'14.978
17 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 44'09.012 160.850 1'15.028
