CASEY STONER DEBUT 2007

His breathtaking maiden win in the first race of MotoGP's new 800cc era repeats Loris Capirossi's 2006 season opening win at Jerez and follows Troy Bayliss' 2006 season ending win at Valencia on the 990cc GP6. Capirossi had an unluckier start to his 2007 campaign, sliding off without injury at one-third distance while charging forward and aiming for a podium result.Stoner started from second on the grid, but set the tone for the race when he pulled a cheeky manoeuvre on Valentino Rossi at the end of lap one. A three rider pack then formed, with Stoner, Rossi and Dani Pedrosa breaking away from the rest of the field.Stoner rode a perfectly judged race, leading the first lap and then battling with former World Champion Valentino Rossi throughout. The pair swapped positions several times, separated by just a few tenths for most of the 22 laps, Stoner crossing the finish line 2.8 seconds ahead after setting a new track record on the final lap.The difference between the Ducati, Yamaha and Honda bikes was illustrated perfectly during the trio's duel, as Rossi and Pedrosa either made up ground or overtook Stoner before being caught on the straight courtesy of the Desmosedici GP7's monstrous power.Rossi attempted to take a permanent lead on lap 18, and it seemed that he was on course for a third consecutive victory at Losail.

However, Stoner showed his ever growing maturity to bite straight back at his Italian rival and pull away by nearly three seconds before taking the chequered flag.Third-placed Pedrosa bowed out of the proceedings when he went wide on a corner, not only leaving a two rider battle for the win, but also allowing John Hopkins to provide a real podium threat. The Suzuki rider finishing only half a second away from both Pedrosa and his debut appearance on the podium.Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards rounded off the top six.Chris Vermeulen concluded a positive day for Suzuki, ahead of reigning world champion Nicky Hayden, the 2006 title holder never really established himself during the practice sessions, and will be looking for a quick solution before Jerez as he attempts to retain his crown.For Stoner the season couldn't have started in a better fashion."We couldn't ask for much more, it was my first time racing with Ducati and Bridgestone, a perfect start," he said."I couldn't be happier with the weekend, the team worked perfectly and the bike and tyres were perfect in the race. We had a bit of a speed advantage and though we had some dramas in other parts of the track, I played to the strengths of the bike and was able to do some pretty fast lap times. Valentino and I had a good battle, it was nice riding up front again. When he came by later on I decided to see how much further the bike can go and I was able to break a bit of an advantage. On the last lap I didn't realise I had a gap and rode the fastest lap, which shows how well the Bridgestones worked. I'm really happy with the way things are going and think we'll get stronger and stronger, but we'll have to see how the season pans out. I'm leading the championship which feels a little strange but it's only the first race of a very, very long year."

Rossi acknowledged he was beaten by a better rider on the day. "It was a great race and a good battle, although of course we would have preferred to start the season with a win! "I got a great start and my M1 worked very well, I could ride it how I wanted on the limit and keep pushing. I wanted to push Casey and try to take the fight to him more, but in fact he was perfect today. He didn't make a single mistake as far as I could see and he rode very well; he deserved to win so congratulations to him. I could see that he was faster on the straight and so I knew that if I got in front I was going to need to make a gap from him, but in fact he was too strong! In the last few laps we were getting faster and faster and I thought I still had a chance, but then he kept on going and my tyre started to slide a little bit so I wasn't able to stay with him to the finish. Anyway, we only waved the white flag right at the end so I am happy about this! Of course it's not perfect but my team have worked very hard and it's much better to have 20 points like this than two like last year!"

MotoGP Championship PointsStoner 25, Rossi 20, Pedrosa 16, Hopkins 13, Melandri 11, Edwards 10, Vermeulen 9, Hayden 8, Barros 7, Nakano 6, Hofmann 5, Jacque 4, Roberts 3.

MOTOGP RESULTS. Rd 1. LOSAIL, QATAR

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 43min 2.788 secs

2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 43min 5.626 secs

3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 43min 11.318 secs

4. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43min 11.859 secs

5. Marco Melandri ITA Gresini Honda 43min 20.221 secs

6. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team 43min 21.435 secs

7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43min 25.704 secs

8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 43min 25.845 secs

9. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 43min 28.749 secs

10. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda 43min 31.244secs

11. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 43min 37.817 secs