The 2008 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix was the opening round of the 2008 MotoGP championship. It took place on the weekend of 7–9 March 2008 at the Losail International Circuit located in Doha, Qatar. The race was historic in that it was the first one to be run at night, with the MotoGP race getting underway at 23:00 local time. Rookies Lorenzo and Toseland started their season strong with Lorenzo getting pole position and Toseland in 2nd during qualifying.
MotoGP classification Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 22 42:36.587 4 25 2 48 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 22 +5.323 1 20 3 2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda 22 +10.600 8 16 4 4 Andrea Dovizioso JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda 22 +13.288 9 13 5 46 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 22 +13.305 7 11 6 52 James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 22 +14.040 2 10 7 5 Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 22 +15.150 3 9 8 65 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 22 +32.505 13 8 9 14 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 22 +33.003 5 7 10 69 Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team Honda 22 +38.354 6 6 11 33 Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 22 +44.284 16 5 12 21 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 22 +49.857 10 4 13 56 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 22 +49.871 15 3 14 24 Toni Elías Alice Team Ducati 22 +58.532 14 2 15 50 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team Ducati 22 +58.930 17 1 16 13 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 22 +1:05.643 18 17 7 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 21 +1 lap 11 Ret 15 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 16 Accident 12 Sources:
250 cc classification Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 75 Mattia Pasini Aprilia 20 40:16.202 5 25 2 21 Héctor Barberá Aprilia 20 +0.557 2 20 3 36 Mika Kallio KTM 20 +1.029 4 16 4 6 Alex Debón Aprilia 20 +1.418 1 13 5 72 Yuki Takahashi Honda 20 +12.944 7 11 6 19 Álvaro Bautista Aprilia 20 +14.480 3 10 7 17 Karel Abraham Aprilia 20 +16.721 11 9 8 15 Roberto Locatelli Gilera 20 +18.987 9 8 9 41 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia 20 +32.232 8 7 10 55 Héctor Faubel Aprilia 20 +41.102 15 6 11 60 Julián Simón KTM 20 +41.457 14 5 12 32 Fabrizio Lai Gilera 20 +41.694 13 4 13 14 Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 20 +43.192 19 3 14 54 Manuel Poggiali Gilera 20 +44.228 18 2 15 12 Thomas Lüthi Aprilia 20 +48.760 10 1 16 4 Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 20 +1:11.031 12 17 45 Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha 20 +2:05.461 23 Ret 25 Alex Baldolini Aprilia 14 Retirement 17 Ret 52 Lukáš Pešek Aprilia 12 Accident 16 Ret 58 Marco Simoncelli Gilera 7 Accident 6 Ret 10 Imre Tóth Aprilia 4 Retirement 22 Ret 43 Manuel Hernández Aprilia 0 Accident 21 Ret 50 Eugene Laverty Aprilia 0 Accident 20 OFFICIAL 250cc REPORT
125 cc classification Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 33 Sergio Gadea Aprilia 18 38:09.444 8 25 2 6 Joan Olivé Derbi 18 +0.932 9 20 3 17 Stefan Bradl Aprilia 18 +1.660 15 16 4 63 Mike Di Meglio Derbi 18 +1.771 3 13 5 45 Scott Redding Aprilia 18 +1.819 4 11 6 99 Danny Webb Aprilia 18 +7.689 5 10 7 24 Simone Corsi Aprilia 18 +8.684 10 9 8 44 Pol Espargaró Derbi 18 +8.693 18 8 9 7 Efrén Vázquez Aprilia 18 +9.054 19 7 10 18 Nicolás Terol Aprilia 18 +10.902 7 6 11 11 Sandro Cortese Aprilia 18 +10.945 13 5 12 1 Gábor Talmácsi Aprilia 18 +12.618 2 4 13 27 Stefano Bianco Aprilia 18 +12.709 12 3 14 29 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 18 +20.086 17 2 15 60 Michael Ranseder Aprilia 18 +23.575 22 1 16 38 Bradley Smith Aprilia 18 +23.890 1 17 77 Dominique Aegerter Derbi 18 +29.406 20 18 22 Pablo Nieto KTM 18 +32.891 16 19 73 Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 18 +33.346 23 20 30 Pere Tutusaus Aprilia 18 +33.649 26 21 8 Lorenzo Zanetti KTM 18 +36.696 24 22 34 Randy Krummenacher KTM 18 +36.754 25 23 21 Robin Lässer Aprilia 18 +45.317 27 24 12 Esteve Rabat KTM 18 +56.440 11 25 69 Louis Rossi Honda 18 +1:14.502 34 Ret 35 Raffaele De Rosa KTM 15 Accident 6 Ret 13 Dino Lombardi Aprilia 11 Retirement 32 Ret 56 Hugo van den Berg Aprilia 10 Accident 29 Ret 71 Tomoyoshi Koyama KTM 8 Accident 21 Ret 51 Stevie Bonsey Aprilia 5 Accident 14 Ret 16 Jules Cluzel Loncin 4 Accident 30 Ret 5 Alexis Masbou Loncin 1 Retirement 28 Ret 19 Roberto Lacalendola Aprilia 1 Retirement 33 Ret 95 Robert Mureșan Aprilia 0 Retirement 31 OFFICIAL 125cc REPORT
Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round one has concluded.
Riders' Championship standings Rider Points 1 Casey Stoner 25 2 Jorge Lorenzo 20 3 Dani Pedrosa 16 4 Andrea Dovizioso 13 5 Valentino Rossi 11
Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Ducati 25 2 Yamaha 20 3 Honda 16 4 Suzuki 8 5 Kawasaki 4
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References