Stoner crashes, Rossi wins: MotoGP 2010 is officially out of the chutes

Yes, we can officially get, not just a little, but very excited by the first taste of Grand Prix action from the opening round of MotoGP, which happened over the weekend at Losail Raceway in Doha, Qatar. The Doctor, Valentino Rossi, continues to prove that his winning ways are no mere fluke, as he topped the podium at Losail followed by Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.

On to the 64 thousand dollar question, where was Casey Stoner? After a marginal start that left him caught in traffic, he had successfully picked his way to the front of the pack by the start of lap three. By lap six however, the blazing fast Aussie would be victim to a turn four get-off that would have him finishing outside the top ten... or twenty, for that matter. This cleared the way for the Doctor to claim victory with the precision of a seasoned champ. Although Rossi saw some challenges before the checkers waived, in typical fashion, he was just as fast as need-be to emerge victorious.

One other highlight worth mentioning was the performance of that other Ducati guy, Nicky Hayden, who showed the speed to be a front-running contender this season after several years of mediocrity. Good to see you back in it Nicky! Yamaha's Ben Spies rounded out the top five, offering up the first glimpse of the season that he'll be a contender before too long.

And there you have it folks, The 2010 MotoGP season is officially out of the chutes, and "backing it in" to steal a position at the front of our limited attention span, so far looks like it could be one of the best seasons ever. Hit the break to see the full top ten results.

[Source: Motomatters.com | Image: Mirco Lazzari GP/Getty]

Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Time Diff

1 46 Valentino ROSSI YAMAHA 42'50.099
2 99 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 42'51.121 1.022
3 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO HONDA 42'51.964 1.865
4 69 Nicky HAYDEN DUCATI 42'51.975 1.876
5 11 Ben SPIES YAMAHA 42'54.002 3.903
6 14 Randy DE PUNIET HONDA 42'59.421 9.322
7 26 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 43'06.607 16.508
8 5 Colin EDWARDS YAMAHA 43'09.966 19.867
9 65 Loris CAPIROSSI SUZUKI 43'10.992 20.893
10 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA HONDA 43'11.199 21.100

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