2009 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 17 races in the 2009 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season |
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| Date | 12–13 April 2009 | ||
| Location | Losail Circuit | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 5.380 km (3.343 mi) |
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| MotoGP | |||
| Pole position | |||
| Rider |
 Casey Stoner
|
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| Time | 1:55.286 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Rider |
Casey Stoner
|
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| Time | 1:55.844 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
Casey Stoner
|
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| Second |
 Valentino Rossi
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| Third |
 Jorge Lorenzo
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| 250 cc | |||
| Pole position | |||
| Rider |
Álvaro Bautista
|
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| Time | 2:00.677 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Rider |
 Hiroshi Aoyama
|
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| Time | 2:01.752 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
Héctor Barberá
|
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| Second |
 Jules Cluzel
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| Third |
Mike Di Meglio
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| 125 cc | |||
| Pole position | |||
| Rider |
Julián Simón
|
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| Time | 2:06.974 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Rider |
Julián Simón
|
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| Time | 2:06.969 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
Andrea Iannone
|
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| Second |
Julián Simón
|
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| Third |
 Sandro Cortese
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The 2009 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix was the opening round of the 2009 MotoGP championship. It had originally been due to place on the weekend of 10–13 April 2009 at the Losail International Circuit located in Doha, Qatar. However, the meeting was extended to 13 April, as the MotoGP race was postponed to this date, due to adverse weather conditions on 12 April. The problems were compounded by the event being held at night under floodlights for the benefit of European TV viewers.
The whole Grand Prix was disrupted by a rare event of rain in Doha, coupled with the impossibility of racing in the wet under floodlights. The 125cc race started at the scheduled time, despite rain being forecast sometime during the race. During the third lap rain began to fall, and the race was finally called after the fourth lap. Shortly after, it was decided to consider the race finished, so Andrea Iannone, who was leading at the time the red-flagged was exposed, was declared the winner and half points were given, since they failed to complete two thirds of the full race distance (18 laps). This was lucky for Julián Simón as he had crashed after the red flag was shown, and manage to recover back to the track, and was thus classified in second.
After this, talk began to decide whether to race the other two classes or not, since racing with rain in the night could pose a serious threat to riders' safety due to the glare off the track. The organizers, together with safety representative Franco Uncini and riders including Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi, made several reconnaissance journeys around the track, which was drying after rain stopped to fall. It was ultimately decided to start the 250cc race, 40 minutes after it was originally scheduled to run. The original race distance of 20 laps was reduced to 13 laps, allowing full points to be awarded while not causing a delay to the MotoGP race. The race went on without problems, and Hector Barbera won the race ahead of a surprising Jules Cluzel. A frantic multi-bike battle for third place ultimately saw Mike Di Meglio finish third after overtaking team-mate Álvaro Bautista and Raffaele de Rosa on the final lap; Hiroshi Aoyama also passed those riders to take 4th place.
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Wikipedia