Spaniards chasing Stoner

Australian rider Casey Stoner won the first race of the 2011 MotoGP season in Qatar on Sunday, his first victory for Repsol Honda. Spanish reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo was second on his Yamaha, with countryman Dani Pedrosa third, also on a Honda.

Italians Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli finished fourth and fifth - providing further evidence, if any were needed, of Honda's superiority - while multiple world champion Valentino Rossi was seventh in his debut for Ducati.

But it was a race that showed that it's talent, not just technology, that counts. On the sole Yamaha among a sea of Hondas, Lorenzo declared war from the moment he fired up his M1, dueling with Stoner and Rossi in a series of overtaking maneuvers as precise as they were unexpected.

It was only when the Australian managed to snatch first place from his teammate that the battle for victory was settled. Stoner had a much better rhythm than Pedrosa and pulled away, leaving the Catalan and Lorenzo repeating a spectacular tussle seen many times last year.

As it was, the script was much the same, with Pedrosa superior on the straights on his more powerful ride, with Lorenzo brilliantly applying the brakes on the corners on the stable Yamaha.

In the end it was the Mallorcan, pushing himself to the limit on every lap, who emerged the winner. It was as if he wanted to show himself he could compete at the same level as the Hondas. And, stubborn as he is, he managed it.

"I think maybe I am more proud of that podium than a race victory; that's how I feel tonight," Lorenzo said after the floodlit race. "I put everything I have inside into my riding on the track for the race. From the start to the end, I was on the limit every lap."

A concerned Pedrosa put his performance down to continuing physical problems following the crash that broke his collarbone in Japan last year. "I'm disappointed, not with the race I had, but with the physical problems I had again with my left arm," he said. "At the end I couldn't grab the handlebars and in the last seven to eight laps I couldn't use the clutch at all. [...] The bike was perfect all race [...] but I had a very hard time, one of the toughest races of my life.

"I'm proud of how I've been riding [...] but at the same time, I feel sad because I don't know what the future will bring. I know we will go to Jerez in two weeks, where the bike will run very well, and I'm very strong and fast, but I don't know what will happen."