Jorge Lorenzo wins 2012 Qatar Grand Prix at Losail International Circuit

Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo of Spain kissing his trophy. Jorge Lorenzo, flanked by Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, on podium

Pole-sitter Jorge Lorenzo of Spain overtook defending MotoGP champion Casey Stoner of Australia with three laps left to cruise to victory in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
Lorenzo, the 2010 champion, was 0.8 seconds faster than countryman Dani Pedrosa, who passed Stoner with two laps remaining in the 22-lap race at Losail International Circuit. It was Lorenzo's 18th victory and first in Qatar.

"What an amazing race," Lorenzo said. "I put everything I have, all my energy into the track. This victory is because I never gave up, kept pushing and trying. Casey was very strong at the beginning and opened a gap. Fortunately for us, he struggled at the end and dropped his pace where I could keep mine, so I managed to pass him."

Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo of Spain rides during the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix

Stoner was 2.9 seconds back in third.
British rider Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso of Italy were next, followed by Nicky Hayden of the United States. Former multiple world champion Valentino Rossi finished 10th.
Pedrosa, who started in seventh, said he was happy to finish second.

"I'm very happy with this result because we have been able to turn around all the problems we had during the weekend," he said. "After a good preseason, we got here and everything went wrong: I had flu and a fever. I crashed on Friday, then the qualifying practice was a disaster. So it's very good to leave here with this podium, even if I feel little bit sad because I thought I could win this race."
Stoner blamed mechanical problems for his failure to hold the lead down the stretch.

"It wasn't really the way we wanted to finish the race weekend here," he said. "I definitely had the package and the pace to lead the field, which was really positive. However, I suffered from really bad arm pump. After three or four laps I felt it but it gradually got worse, I tried to pull a little gap from Jorge and Dani and put in the minimal effort possible to retain the gap and try and win. But as the race continued it got worse and worse and eventually the muscles had nothing more to give."

The 33-year-old Rossi started 12th in his second year for Ducati and finished 33.6 seconds behind Lorenzo.
Stoner appeared on his way to a 34th victory when he overtook Lorenzo on the third lap. The 26-year-old Australian, who won the race last year, remained in control the top three bunched up on the 19th lap.
The race was the first using the 1,000 cc engines - up from 800 cc – and marked the debut of the so-called Claiming Rule Teams. These are independent outfits with lower budgets and included nine of the 21 teams in the race.

Results
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha         42:44.214 
 2. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda           42:45.066 
 3. Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda       42:47.122 
 4. Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha       43:01.328 
 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha     43:01.634 
 6. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati           43:12.627 
 7. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda        43:12.660 
 8. Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda         43:13.678 
 9. Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati        43:15.598 
10. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati       43:17.879 
11. Ben Spies (U.S.) Yamaha              43:41.121 
12. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Suter           43:42.302 
13. Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia     43:54.864 
14. Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Kawasaki   44:00.157 
15. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia      44:10.947

The next race is in Jerez, Spain April 29.