Qatar night race to kick off MotoGP season

The 154-day long wait for the start of the new MotoGP season will come to an end on Sunday, when the 17 riders who will battle it out for the 2010 world championship - including Australian Casey Stoner -- line up on the grid in Qatar.

Little over three weeks have passed since the riders finished their pre-season preparations at the track, and it was Stoner who signed off the third and final pre-season test at the circuit as the fastest rider of the field.

In doing so the Ducati man broke reigning world champion and Yamaha-mounted Valentino Rossi's pre-season dominance, and will be aiming for a magnificent fourth straight season-opening race win at the track.

Rossi starts the campaign with the aim of securing a 10th world title - an eighth in the premier class - and his form in the tests indicates that he remains the man to beat. He is still seeking as first win under the floodlights (he has won daytime races at Losail in 2005 and 2006) and finished second last year, and the factory YZR-M1 has received a glowing assessment from the Italian in the lead-up to the first race, as it has done from team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

The Spaniard, who finished last year's championship as runner-up to his team-mate and rival, will arrive at the first round still carrying the after effects of an injury that saw him at less than 100 percent at the test three weeks ago. Nevertheless he still managed to maintain a competitive check on the timesheet, and Lorenzo's physical condition will no doubt be further improved.

Dani Pedrosa, last year's third-placed championship rider, has struggled in pre-season with his factory Honda RC212V, but will be in much better physical shape for the opening race than last year when he finished 11th after an injury-effected pre-season. His team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was in good form at the Qatar test with the third best time, and other factory riders Nicky Hayden (Ducati) and Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) will also be in the hunt for strong starts to their respective campaigns.

Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo Colin Edwards - who finished fourth in Qatar in 2009 - and Ben Spies have both enjoyed good pre-seasons, with the latter the best performing rookie and causing great excitement at his debut season in MotoGP.

A host of other newcomers are making their premier class bows, with 250cc world champion Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda), Álvaro Bautista (Suzuki), Héctor Barberá (Honda) and Marco Simoncelli (Honda) making up an exciting group of rookies on the grid.

Randy de Puniet (Honda), Marco Melandri (Honda), and Ducati pair Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaró complete the 17-strong list.

Meanwhile, after much excitement, extensive preparation and plenty of predictions, the new intermediate class of the world championship, Moto2, begins in Qatar.

Fourteen chassis providers are supplying the 40-rider strong grid, which will race on engines supplied by Honda and tyres from Dunlop.

Toni Elías has placed his name on the list of early favourites with his competitive times, but he is fighting to be fully fit after suffering a fracture in his left hand and right ankle in a fall at the final Test at Jerez last week. The Spaniard expects to be able to race, but his condition will only be able to be fully assessed when practice begins on Friday.

Other riders with MotoGP experience who will be looking to make their way back into the premier class with strong seasons this year include Yuki Takahashi, Alex de Angelis, Niccolò Canepa, Australian Anthony West, Gabor Talmacsi and Roberto Rolfo.

West (MZ) placed ninth overall at the final test before the opening race of the season. It was the first time West rode as a confirmed entrant for the 2010 season, as he attended the two previous official tests at Valencia and Jerez as a reserve entry rider.

"It was a bit difficult and stressful not knowing whether we'd start (the season) or not and I'm happy we finally will," explained West. "Now we have a lot of work to do to get everything ready for the first race. I'm looking forward to it and these guys are working really hard to get the bike ready."

With the top 16 on the timesheet at Jerez all separated by less than a second, West believes the title is there for the taking.

"I want to be at the front! With this new class I think I have a really good chance and I'm feeling strong at the moment. I want to win some races," he said "It's something I've been waiting for, for a long time.

"After many years riding in private teams it's like we always do the best we can, but it's hard to compete sometimes when there are factory teams with better bikes. This is a good opportunity for me, and also for everyone else.

"I think it's going to be good to watch because it's going to be so close. The testing times are really close and I think the racing's going to be crazy! It will be fun."

Free to air digital station ONE now has the exclusive rights to the road racing world championship. MotoGP qualifying will go to air at 9.00am Sunday, and the racing action commences at 2.45am on Monday morning, with the MotoGP race slated for 5.30am.