MotoGP Lap Chart – Qatar
by Tracy Hagen

Casey Stoner enjoyed a runaway victory in the opening race in the 2011 MotoGP season at Qatar, but things could be closer in the coming races.

The Australian battled his Spanish teammate Dani Pedrosa until lap 12, when Pedrosa’s left arm became too sore to control his Honda. Pedrosa clearly held up Stoner over laps 9 to 12, as the interval times remained constant over this period but steadily increased once Stoner found clean air.

World champion Jorge Lorenzo watched the battle from 1.5 seconds behind. When Pedrosa slowed on lap 12 Lorenzo lost an additional half-second to Stoner. That interval grew to 3.5 seconds when Lorenzo passed Pedrosa on lap 18.

Andrea Dovisioso and Marco Simoncelli were pushing and shoving each other over fourth place. Dovisoso blasted his Italian countryman for a dangerous pass on lap 8, and ten laps later Dovi finally re-took fourth. From there until the end of the race Dovisioso matched Stoner on lap time, albeit six seconds behind.

Yamaha’s Ben Spies was the only factory rider to gain ground on Stoner in the closing laps, but it was too little, too late. Spies was held up by Ducati debutante Valentino Rossi from lap 6 until his pass on lap 16. In hindsight, Spies needs to get a better start, preferably from the front row, as the Yamaha doesn’t have the legs to overtake on the straights.

Colin Edwards was the fastest non-factory rider. Nicky Hayden had a messy race after Randy De Puniet high-sided in front of him on the first lap. Nicky was last, five seconds from the front, when he crossed the second interval timer.

De Puniet’s teammate, Loris Capirossi, was less fortunate. The out-of-control Ducati hit Capirossi’s hand hard enough to cause the veteran Italian to pull out with suspected broken bones.

(Editor — Hagen is a veteran motorcycle racing technology reporter and computer genius who is currently based in Malaysia.)