Casey Stoner savoured the Australian national anthem with his eyes firmly closed under the bright lights of Qatar after taking victory in the first night race in the history of the sport. The MotoGP World Champion started the defence of his title from fourth on the grid and had dropped to fifth by the end of the first lap, before charging through to set up a stirring battle with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

The Spanish rookie proved to be the most difficult obstacle between Stoner and his eleventh career MotoGP win but by the eighth lap Stoner was in control and little by little he opened out an insurmountable gap.

Lorenzo made a tentative start and dropped several places from his starting position, crossing the line after the first lap in fourth. The first eight laps were something of a dog-fight with the front six riders trading places back and forth several times, but the Yamaha rookie kept his head through the melee and gradually worked his way forward, eventually passing Rossi to take second behind Stoner on lap 9. He hung on to the World Champion for a while but gradually the stress of the first part of the race took its toll and the 20-year-old began to tire and suffer pain in his arms. He eventually crossed the line 5.323 seconds behind Stoner but the same distance clear of third-placed Dani Pedrosa.

Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro - 1st
That was a fantastic race and I really enjoyed it - it was like being back in 125s! The first few laps were really hectic, there were guys bashing fairings and I just tried to stay out of the way. When I got my chance to get through I took it and from there I just focused on setting my pace. Jorge rode brilliantly - it wasn't an easy race by any means, especially at the start. Over the first few laps I was struggling a bit for grip but then the tyres got up to temperature and improved. We knew we had a pretty good package for the race but obviously we couldn't be sure that things would go as well as that. I want to say thanks to everybody at Ducati for a great job, my team, the guys at Bridgestone... Thanks everybody.

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 2nd
For sure I couldn't have expected a better debut than this and I am very, very excited to be on the podium. Second place is an amazing result for me and I had great fun. The start and first few laps were a bit crazy and really a bit of a scary time for me, but anyway I managed to make it through and get past some riders to get to second. I started to go with Stoner but after a while I became very tired and I started to have a lot of pressure and pain in my arms, so I really couldn't push any more! Anyway he was faster than us and I want to say congratulations to him because he deserved to win tonight. I think if I could have got a better start, maybe I wouldn't have got so tired later on and I would have been able to keep a better rhythm, but anyway I don't think I can ask for more than this tonight. I want to thank Yamaha and Michelin for all the hard work they have put in over the winter to get me to this point, and of course my team for all of their work. I don't want to start talking about the championship yet because this is only my first race, and now we will go to Jerez and do our very best again there and see what happens!

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 3rd
Tonight's result is unbelievable, we didn't expect this, so I'm very happy. Seven days ago I was almost last in the tests here but my team have worked really hard, bringing both 2007 and 2008 bikes here and making many changes - they've been fantastic. For the first time I understand the meaning and the legend of HRC and I'm so proud to be part of this. They gave me a competitive bike and the Michelin tyres worked really well and I did my best on track but without them I couldn't have been able to make it. I couldn't stay with Lorenzo and Stoner, so we still have to improve but since last week's tests we've made an incredible step forward. Now we have a few weeks to recover full strength in the hand before Jerez.

Andrea Dovizioso - JiR Scot - 4th
I'm very emotional for this first race. I never thought I would be so quick to finish so near the front and also become the first Italian rider home, which is great! I never really thought of the podium, as I seemed to start off not so good on the grid. Immediately after the start I pushed hard and tried to concentrate on the job in front, I was aiming at the train of riders just in front of me. Perhaps I asked a little too much of my Michelin tyre combination which behaved very well in the race. I want to thank the team for the fantastic job that they did over the weekend. We struggled a little in qualifying, but came out in a very good way when it was time for the race. We have shown that we are ready to do well in MotoGP with Honda and I look forward to the next race.

Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 5th
We expected a difficult race here, but actually not as difficult as this! We haven't been fast here in Qatar since last week's night test but, despite this, I thought we might be able to fight for the podium. Tonight however it was really difficult and now we have to understand the reason for this result. After five or six laps I started doing 56.4 and 56.5 and from then on I couldn't improve on that pace until the end. I was very fast in braking, but not so fast in the corners. We know that we can make our Bridgestone tyres work better than this, because they are winning tyres and tonight they showed it once again. Throughout the winter, at all tracks, we were very fast and this is the only one where we were not. Now our task is to understand why this happened. We had a couple of ideas to try but in the end we decided to stick to what we know because we need some more time to understand how to improve and how to be faster. We know we can do better than this and so we just need to gather all the information and use it in the best way for the next race. Finally I want to say congratulations to Lorenzo for a great debut tonight; honestly I'm not surprised because I knew he was fast and talented, but he did very well tonight in a hard race so well done to him.

James Toseland - Yamaha Tech 3 - 6th
To start off with this result is just great for me. I've realised now that with everybody's support, which I'm getting from the Tech 3 team, Yamaha and Michelin, it is possible to be competitive. To finish just behind Valentino in my very first MotoGP race is surreal. The first couple of laps were pretty hectic and I put a move on Jorge that was quite close. That's just a lack of experience racing against these guys. I've raced against the same boys for seven years and know exactly what they do and when they do it. Jorge put his bike over my nose just as I was committed for the pass. I've just got to get used to how these guys take the corners so I can pass them a bit safer. But he left the door open a bit and I went for it. There was no harm done and after that I was trying everything I had to pass Andrea and Valentino. I was catching up fractions of time all lap and I'd just get with them at the last corner and they'd stretch away from me on the straight. There is nobody bad on the brakes so you can't catch it up really. You can chip away and chip away but the times I got close they were side-byside and it was like a wall for me. And I wasn't prepared to take two of them out in my first MotoGP with sixth place in the bag I'm a bit emotionally drained to be fair but what you learn in 22 laps around these guys is priceless and I can't wait for Jerez.

Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech 3 - 7th
I didn't leave anything out there tonight. If you paid me a million dollars I couldn't have gone any faster. I was riding my hardest but at the end of the day it just wasn't fast enough and to be honest I'm not sure why. We'll have to check the computer but I just didn't have the same feeling as I did yesterday. We had a great day yesterday and going into the race I was confident about getting on the podium. But from the second lap it became a race of adapting to cope with the different feeling I had from the tyres. I was at the back of the group and while they weren't really pulling away, I couldn't get any closer. I just didn't have the confidence to push and then I ran wide at the last corner while trying to keep close to the back of James. I lost a bit of time and I couldn't catch back up. Thanks to my guys for they're hard work and we'll try and move closer to the front in Jerez.

Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki - 8th
For sure I am not happy because our target is to fight for the podium or victories, and at the moment we are a bit off that. We tried to do our best in the race and compared to the test and the practices here this week we certainly went a little bit better in the race. We still have to continue to improve our entire package so we can be running at the front. I really want to thank my team because they gave me a good opportunity to try my best this weekend with the bike they prepared for me. We now have another 17 races left and we can certainly improve a lot in them!

Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 10th
It wasn't pretty for sure. We wanted more than just top ten but we struggled here from the time we rolled out at the tests. We haven't really made much progress and it hasn't been for a lack of effort, these guys have worked really hard. We got beat bad today so we've obviously got a lot of work to do. I got a decent start but I couldn't push the way I wanted to, couldn't be aggressive and couldn't make anything happen, so I kinda went backwards then I went forward again. I was spinning a lot, which definitely didn't do the rear tyre any favours, I really think we just missed the set-up and worked the tyre way too hard so I was spinning way too much.

Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro - 11th
I got a great start but a couple of riders got in my way and I lost some positions. That's normal when you're starting from so far back. Over the first few laps the feeling with the front wasn't too good and when I passed Elias I ran pretty wide. The situation improved as the laps went by and I felt more stable and comfortable. The race was definitely the highlight of the weekend and that is really encouraging.

John Hopkins - Kawasaki Racing - 12th
The first half of the race felt good, and I was pretty comfortable running inside the top ten. But then, at about half race distance, the performance of the front tyre went off, and it started sliding in the turns. I had no option but to hold the bike up on my knee, but that put a lot of pressure on my injury. The pain built up very quickly, and by two-thirds distance it was excruciating. If it had just been pain then I could have ridden through it, but in the end I simply ran out of strength in the injured muscle, and I just couldn't maintain my lap times. It was hard to make it all the way to the end of the race, but although I'm disappointed not to have finished higher, at least I know that the injury wouldn't have been a limiting factor if it hadn't been for the tyre problem. This gives me some confidence going into the next race at Jerez.

Shinya Nakano - Gresini Honda - 13th
We knew after free practice and qualifying that this was going to be a tough race for us. I lost a few positions at the start but started to make up ground after a few laps. By the end I was battling with the group in front and I reached the 13th place. This isn't the result we were hoping for so we have to improve next time. I'm confident for Jerez - we've tested there and we have a lot of good data to work from.

Toni Elias - Alice Team - 14th
It's not a positive result, I am not happy, it has been a difficult race. I found many problems with the front, but we still don't know what happened. We have to check the data to understand the reasons why we were going almost a second per lap slower compare to the warm up. This morning's rhythm could have allowed us to enter the top ten, but since the third lap things weren't going as we expected. We only have to work hard. The Team is doing its work and soon better results will come.

Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Team - 15th
the fast corners I couldn't push to the limit and the bad cold I have made me sweat a lot and now I feel without energies left. The front part of the bike has worked really well during the all race, while I lost a bit of grip with the rear in the last laps. Sincerely this weekend lap times have been the same of the race, therefore we couldn't expected much more. We have to concentrate for the next weekend of racing and improve the setting of the bike to fight for better positions.

Anthony West - Kawasasi Racing - 16th
What can I say? Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed with my result today, because I'm not here to finish at the back of the field. I was suffering with the same problems I had in practice and qualifying and I still didn't feel totally comfortable on the bike. At around half race distance I started to feel more confident, and in some sections of the circuit I was much faster than Guintoli and Elias, who were in front of me. Through the final section I could get right alongside them, but I just didn't have enough speed to pass. And then, as soon as we hit the straight, they cleared off. This has been a weekend to forget, but I need to put it behind me now and focus on the next race at Jerez.

Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 17th
Not a great start to the season! I made a good start and got off the line well. I was in a good position, but I had an issue with the front tyre right from the first lap. It just didn't work and after five laps it was completely destroyed, so I had to come in and get a new one fitted. We will have to look at it with Bridgestone and find out why it happened. After we replaced the tyre - with the same spec one - I went back out and just tried to stay out of everyone's way. I ended up following Loris in his battle with de Puniet and I was comfortable doing those lap-times at the end when I had a decent front tyre in. It's a shame really, and although I don't think we had the pace to run with the front group I felt like I could have scored a lot more points than we have now.

Alex de Angelis - Gresini Honda - DNF (crash 5 laps to go)
I'm really disappointed with the today's race because it seems my bike was slower than the others on the straight, and I kept getting passed by riders coming out of my slipstream and overtaking me on top speed. Throughout the whole race I didn't manage to get back on the pace I'd set all weekend here and in the tests a week ago and that's disappointing because I'm sure I could have fought with the group in front. It's a shame we didn't come away with a result but we at least know we have potential.

2008 GP of Qatar Results

 1. Stoner     Ducati Marlboro (B) 42:36.587
 2. Lorenzo    Fiat Yamaha     (M) 42:41.910
 3. Pedrosa    Repsol Honda    (M) 42:47.187
 4. Dovizioso  JiR Scot Honda  (M) 42:49.875
 5. Rossi      Fiat Yamaha     (B) 42:49.892
 6. Toseland   Yamaha Tech 3   (M) 42:50.627
 7. Edwards    Yamaha Tech 3   (M) 42:51.737
 8. Capirossi  Rizla Suzuki    (B) 43:9.092
 9. de Puniet  LCR Honda       (M) 43:9.590
10. Hayden     Repsol Honda    (M) 43:14.941
11. Melandri   Ducati Marlboro (B) 43:20.871
12. Hopkins    Kawasaki Racing (B) 43:26.444
13. Nakano     Honda Gresini   (B) 43:26.458
14. Elias      Alice Team      (B) 43:35.119
15. Guintoli   Alice Team      (B) 43:35.517
16. West       Kawasaki Racing (B) 43:42.230 
17. Vermeulen  Rizla Suzuki    (B) +1 lap
18. de Angelis Honda Gresini   (B) DNF, crash, 5 laps to go

2008 MotoGP Rider Standings - after round 1 of 18

 1. Stoner     25
 2. Lorenzo    20
 3. Pedrosa    16
 4. Dovizioso  13
 5. Rossi      11
 6. Toseland   10
 7. Edwards    9
 8. Capirossi  8
 9. de Puniet  7
10. Hayden     6
11. Melandri   5
12. Hopkins    4
13. Nakano     3
14. Elias      2
15. Guintoli   1
16. de Angelis 0
17. Vermeulen  0
18. West       0