Nicky Hayden has declared his fighting fourth-place finish in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix as his best performance since joining Ducati in 2009.
The 2006 world champion, who missed out on a podium finish by 0.011sec when he was passed on the finish line by Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso, admitted that while he was encouraged by his improved form he was gutted to have just missed a top-three finish … Details
Valentino Rossi made the perfect start to his world championship title defence with a consummate victory in the opening round of the 2010 season at Qatar, as Ducati rival Casey Stoner crashed out of the lead early-on.
Rossi’s Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo finished second after a dramatic late surge, while Andrea Dovizioso beat a revitalized Nicky Hayden to third place by 0.011s … Details
Casey Stoner will start from pole for Sunday night’s MotoGP season opener in Qatar, having fended off arch-rival Valentino Rossi in qualifying.
The duo battled for pole throughout the qualifying hour, with Stoner deposing Rossi just after the halfway point and then repeatedly improving until he reached a time of 1m55.007s. Rossi (Yamaha) edged closer, and was faster than Stoner around the first half of his final lap, but the Ducati’s performance in the final sector was just too strong, and Rossi fell 0.355sec short around the lap … Details