The 62nd edition of the MotoGP World Championship fires up on the 11th April and for the third consecutive season the curtain raiser will take place at night, under floodlights, in Qatar. The Ducati MotoGP Team head to Losail confident in the work they have done during winter testing but well aware that the competition is tough and the level even higher than ever.

Both Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden have shown their appreciation for the technical modifications brought to the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 by Filippo Preziosi, in particular the new “big bang” engine. Both riders are looking to repeat their excellent preseason form when they take to the Losail circuit for the first time on Friday evening, as the 2010 season finally roars into life.

Nicky Hayden, Ducati MotoGP Team

“Finally the first race is here! We seem to have started later than everybody else and I don’t know if I could have waited any longer! Testing went fairly well – we met some of our objectives and still have a lot of work to do in other areas but overall I’m satisfied. We established a good base setting in Qatar and hopefully we can use that for the first race. It has been a couple of years since I made a good start to the season but I feel in good shape, the team are fully behind me and I can’t wait to get started.”