MOTORCYCLING Live

- Next with had Edwards in fourth; Dovizioso in fifth; De Angelis is sixth, Vermeulen seventh; Kallio eight; Elias ninth; Pedrosa tenth; De Puniet 11th; Hayden 12th; Gibernau 13th; Melandri 14th and last man in the points is Takahashi. JAMES TOSELAND OUT OF THE POINTS.

22/22 STONER HAS THE WIN - he defeats Rossi and Lorenzo comes in third in his first race on Bridgestone tyres.

21/22 AND WE ARE ON THE FINAL LAP - Stoner just has to stay on his bike!!

20/22 De Puniet has overtaken Pedrosa to move up to 10th with just two laps now remaining.

19/22 Now the lead is over five seconds for Stoner - nobody else even on the same massive home stretch of road as those two - Lorenzo has been on his own in third for a long while now - he is 11 seconds behind Rossi.

18/22 Stoner all set to win this race for the third year in a row - the lead is now 4.694 and Rossi looks content in second.

17/22 Elias has taken ninth off Pedrosa and De Puniet is now looking to overtake the Spaniard.

- Again due to a bug - Stoner's name on our timesheets has been replaced by Joham Zarco (your guess is as good as mine) we can assure you it is Stoner who leads.

16/22 Just six laps remaining now - 3.658 is Stoner's lead - the positions could be set now.

15/22 Good effort from Melandri after his early trip into the gravel. He is back in the points in 14th.

15/22 With seven laps to go - the top three look safe but Dovizioso can still see Edwards in fourth.

14/22 Stoner's lead looks to be secure now - 3.216 is his lead now altough Rossi said he planned a late attack.

13/22 Dovizioso is dropping big time - he was third but he has been overtaken by Lorenzo and Edwards and has dropped to fifth.

13/22 We have just got word that the officals are looking at the incident involving De Angelis and Pedrosa.

12/22 Another big lap from Stoner who now holds a 2.94 second lead on Rossi.

11/22 Pedrosa's woes continue as Kallio nips in ahead of him for eight.

11/22 Superb lap from Stoner who has taken nearly half a second on Rossi in that last lap - his lead is now just under 2.5 seconds.

10/22 De Angelis nudges into Pedrosa and Pedrosa does so well to stay on the track - he is eight now and De Angelis is pushing Vermeulen for sixth.

10/22 A technical bug on our standings to your left seems to have Joham Zarco of all people leading this GP - I can assure you it is Casey Stoner!! Apologies for the bug.

9/22 Rossi keeps getting closer to Stoner the gap is now just under two seconds - the race for first is on.

7/22 OUT GOES CAPIROSSI FROM FIFTH - spectacular crash - sparks fly everywhere but at the Suzuki man walks away.

7/22 Dovizioso with a nice move on Lorenzo sees him go up to third - and those two having a great battle....for third. Meanwhile - Toseland has spent some time in the gravel.

6/22 Rossi is two and a half seconds behind Stoner and edging a little closer each lap - the rest are nowhere

5/22 James Toseland struggling to make an impact for Britain - he is 12th - up one from his starting position.

4/22 Caprirossi has dropped back down to fourth - with Dovoizioso having moved into a podium position.

2/22 Rossi back up to second as he take Capirossi....Stoner is MILES ahead already.

2/22 Stoner with a big lead after one - next comes Capirossi then Rossi then Lorenzo and Melandri has skid into the gravel.

1/22 AND WE ARE GO!! Stoner takes the lead into the first corner and Capirossi jumps from fifth to second.

- The warm-up lap is underway - get ready bike fans - the season starts here.

- The race will start at 21:00 local time (19:00 in the UK) which means the floodlights are on around this track.

- Only a minimal chance of rain today so we should get the race off without too many problems.

- Casey Stoner has been dominating the time sheets all weekend - he starts as favourite from pole position.

- Welcome back to Qatar where we are finally set to get the first MotoGP race of the season underway after yesterday's wash out.