The MotoGP season opener in Qatar? Actually completely normal since 2007. That a MotoGP race doesn’t take place on Sunday, but only on Monday? So not normal at all! And yet that was exactly the case on April 13, 2009: The premier class didn’t start the new season with the Qatar GP on a Sunday evening, but on a Monday under floodlights. What was happening? Motorsport-Magazin.com looks back on this curiosity 15 years later.
Actually, everything at the 2009 MotoGP season opener in Qatar initially looked like a completely normal racing weekend. Friday’s training session went off without a hitch and everything went according to plan in the qualifying sessions for the three World Championship classes on Saturday. Casey Stoner (MotoGP), Alvaro Bautista (250cc) and Julian Simon (125cc) secured the three pole positions. So far everything is completely normal.
Even on Sunday everything still looked like a normal racing day in the Motorcycle World Championship. The opening race of the 125cc class started promptly at 8 p.m. local time, but then the impossible happened: rain started falling from the sky. Yes, you read that right. Rain in the Qatar desert! Unimaginable, but that happens every now and then. In any case, the conditions quickly became impassable, which is why the race management reacted with the red flag at the beginning of the fifth lap.
Heavy rain prevents MotoGP start in Qatar
The decision was quickly made not to resume the 125cc race and to end it early. Andrea Iannone was declared the winner. Since less than two thirds of the planned race distance had been completed, only half points were awarded. The big question now was: Can 250cc and MotoGP races still take place? Ultimately, the rain combined with the floodlights on the track created a dangerous blinding effect that severely limited the pilots’ visibility.
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Since the rain stopped a short time later, the track dried out quickly. So this problem no longer existed (for the time being). Safety officer Franco Uncini and some MotoGP riders like Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi completed several laps before it was finally decided to start the 250cc race 40 minutes late and shortened by seven laps. The race went without any problems, Hector Barbera won ahead of Jules Cluzel and Mike Di Meglio. This allowed the MotoGP race to remain in the original time slot and was scheduled to start promptly at 11 p.m. local time. But just then the rain started again and this time even heavier than before.
Heavy rain prevented the MotoGP race in Qatar on Sunday, Photo: LAT Images
Running a race had now become impossible, which is why the organizers had to cancel the Grand Prix. Negotiations followed between MotoGP promoter Dorna, the track operators and all eleven teams, after which it was decided to postpone the event by one day to April 13, 2009. So the last MotoGP race so far happened on a Monday.
Casey Stoner wins delayed 2009 MotoGP season opener
There was no sign of the previous day’s rain and we were able to start as hoped at 9 p.m. local time. The MotoGP opening race itself went without any problems, but also quite unspectacular. Casey Stoner successfully defended his lead at the start and then shot away; after just one lap he was already leading by almost two seconds over his main rival Valentino Rossi, who was stuck in third place behind Loris Capirossi. Rossi quickly overtook his compatriot, but was unable to catch Stoner until the end. When they crossed the finish line, the two were separated by a full 7.771 seconds. It was the third victory in a row in Qatar for the Ducati rider.
Casey Stoner led from start to finish in Qatar, photo: Ducati
After his excellent start, Capirossi was quickly passed back to the back and ultimately caused the only crash of the day on lap seven. Jorge Lorenzo and Honda newcomer Andrea Dovizioso fought a tough duel for third place, in which the Mallorcan ultimately had the upper hand. In the final phase, due to severe tire degradation, Dovizioso even fell behind the good Colin Edwards in fifth place.
What else was going on at the 2009 Qatar Grand Prix?
Dani Pedrosa, who came third in the World Championships last year, had to pay tribute to a serious knee injury and couldn’t get past 13th place in qualifying. In the race he started to catch up strongly at times and was in P6, but was steadily behind again from halfway through the race. So he ultimately only finished eleventh, just ahead of ex-teammate Nicky Hayden, who put in a disappointing performance on his Ducati debut. Sete Gibernau, who returned to MotoGP in 2009 after a two-year break with the Grupo Francisco Hernando team, came in 13th.
Marco Melandri had to go through the gravel trap in Turn 1 after braking, Photo: LAT Images
Marco Melandri made his debut with Hayate Racing after Kawasaki had surprisingly withdrawn from the premier class a few weeks earlier. Although he only finished 14th, he still showed a remarkable performance in the desert. Melandri was fighting in the top ten in the early stages before he braked badly in Turn 1 and had to drive through the gravel trap. This threw him back to the back of the field with a big gap. Nevertheless, finishing only eight seconds behind Pedrosa was a really good result. But someone else showed the best performance of the day: Mika Kallio. The Finnish MotoGP rookie finished eighth and was second best Ducati after race winner Stoner. He left established names like Tony Elias and Randy De Puniet behind.
Dani Pedrosa and Alex De Angelis collided at the exit of Turn 6, Photo: MotoGP.com/Screenshot
Pedrosa and Alex De Angelis created the scene at the Qatar Grand Prix: the former went a bit wide after an overtaking maneuver by Chris Vermeulen in Turn 6. When Pedrosa wanted to return to the ideal line at the exit of the corner, his path crossed with De Angelis. There was a collision that almost put Pedrosa out of the race. The ‘Little Samurai’ only stayed seated with a lot of luck and then had to push his handlebars back into position, but was then able to continue the race without any further problems. The stewards investigated the collision but ultimately ruled it a racing accident. De Angelis therefore escaped without punishment. He caught Vermeulen later in the race and finished a strong sixth.
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