| Grand Prix: | Qatar |
| Flag: | Qatar |
| Official Name: | Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar[1] |
| Location: | Losail International Circuit |
| Course Mi: | 3.343 |
| Course Km: | 5.380 |
| Race No: | 1 |
| Season No: | 18 |
| Date: | 9 March |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Pole Rider Motogp: | Jorge Lorenzo |
| Pole Rider Motogp Country: | Spain |
| Pole Time Motogp: | 1:53.927 |
| Fast Rider Motogp: | Casey Stoner |
| Fast Rider Motogp Country: | Australia |
| Fast Time Motogp: | 1:55.153 |
| First Rider Motogp: | Casey Stoner |
| First Rider Motogp Country: | Australia |
| Second Rider Motogp: | Jorge Lorenzo |
| Second Rider Motogp Country: | Spain |
| Third Rider Motogp: | Dani Pedrosa |
| Third Rider Motogp Country: | Spain |
| Pole Rider 250: | Alex Debón |
| Pole Rider 250 Country: | Spain |
| Pole Time 250: | 1:59.470 |
| Fast Rider 250: | Alex Debón |
| Fast Rider 250 Country: | Spain |
| Fast Time 250: | 1:59.379 |
| First Rider 250: | Mattia Pasini |
| First Rider 250 Country: | Italy |
| Second Rider 250: | Héctor Barberá |
| Second Rider 250 Country: | Spain |
| Third Rider 250: | Mika Kallio |
| Third Rider 250 Country: | Finland |
| Pole Rider 125: | Bradley Smith |
| Pole Rider 125 Country: | Great Britain |
| Pole Time 125: | 2:05.242 |
| Fast Rider 125: | Scott Redding |
| Fast Rider 125 Country: | Great Britain |
| Fast Time 125: | 2:05.695 |
| First Rider 125: | Sergio Gadea |
| First Rider 125 Country: | Spain |
| Second Rider 125: | Joan Olivé |
| Second Rider 125 Country: | Spain |
| Third Rider 125: | Stefan Bradl |
| Third Rider 125 Country: | Germany |
The 2008 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix was the opening round of the 2008 MotoGP championship. It took place on the weekend of 7–9 March 2008 at the Losail International Circuit located in Doha, Qatar. The race was historic in that it was the first one to be run at night, with the MotoGP race getting underway at 23:00 local time. Rookies Lorenzo and Toseland started their season strong with Lorenzo getting pole position and Toseland in 2nd during qualifying.
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Casey Stoner | Ducati Marlboro Team | Ducati | 22 | 42:36.587 | 4 | 25 | |
| 2 | 48 |  Jorge Lorenzo | Fiat Yamaha Team | Yamaha | 22 | +5.323 | 1 | 20 | |
| 3 | 2 | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 22 | +10.600 | 8 | 16 | |
| 4 | 4 |  Andrea Dovizioso | JiR Team Scot MotoGP | Honda | 22 | +13.288 | 9 | 13 | |
| 5 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Fiat Yamaha Team | Yamaha | 22 | +13.305 | 7 | 11 | |
| 6 | 52 |  James Toseland | Tech 3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 22 | +14.040 | 2 | 10 | |
| 7 | 5 |  Colin Edwards | Tech 3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 22 | +15.150 | 3 | 9 | |
| 8 | 65 | Loris Capirossi | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 22 | +32.505 | 13 | 8 | |
| 9 | 14 |  Randy de Puniet | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 22 | +33.003 | 5 | 7 | |
| 10 | 69 | Nicky Hayden | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 22 | +38.354 | 6 | 6 | |
| 11 | 33 | Marco Melandri | Ducati Marlboro Team | Ducati | 22 | +44.284 | 16 | 5 | |
| 12 | 21 | John Hopkins | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | 22 | +49.857 | 10 | 4 | |
| 13 | 56 |  Shinya Nakano | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 22 | +49.871 | 15 | 3 | |
| 14 | 24 | Toni Elías | Alice Team | Ducati | 22 | +58.532 | 14 | 2 | |
| 15 | 50 | Sylvain Guintoli | Alice Team | Ducati | 22 | +58.930 | 17 | 1 | |
| 16 | 13 | Anthony West | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | 22 | +1:05.643 | 18 | ||
| 17 | 7 | Chris Vermeulen | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 21 | +1 lap | 11 | ||
| Ret | 15 |  Alex de Angelis | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 16 | Accident | 12 | ||
| Sources: [2] [3] [4] | |||||||||
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75 | Mattia Pasini | Aprilia | 20 | 40:16.202 | 5 | 25 | |
| 2 | 21 | Héctor Barberá | Aprilia | 20 | +0.557 | 2 | 20 | |
| 3 | 36 |  Mika Kallio | KTM | 20 | +1.029 | 4 | 16 | |
| 4 | 6 | Alex Debón | Aprilia | 20 | +1.418 | 1 | 13 | |
| 5 | 72 | Yuki Takahashi | Honda | 20 | +12.944 | 7 | 11 | |
| 6 | 19 | Álvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 20 | +14.480 | 3 | 10 | |
| 7 | 17 |  Karel Abraham | Aprilia | 20 | +16.721 | 11 | 9 | |
| 8 | 15 | Roberto Locatelli | Gilera | 20 | +18.987 | 9 | 8 | |
| 9 | 41 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia | 20 | +32.232 | 8 | 7 | |
| 10 | 55 | Héctor Faubel | Aprilia | 20 | +41.102 | 15 | 6 | |
| 11 | 60 | Julián Simón | KTM | 20 | +41.457 | 14 | 5 | |
| 12 | 32 | Fabrizio Lai | Gilera | 20 | +41.694 | 13 | 4 | |
| 13 | 14 |  Ratthapark Wilairot | Honda | 20 | +43.192 | 19 | 3 | |
| 14 | 54 | Manuel Poggiali | Gilera | 20 | +44.228 | 18 | 2 | |
| 15 | 12 |  Thomas Lüthi | Aprilia | 20 | +48.760 | 10 | 1 | |
| 16 | 4 | Hiroshi Aoyama | KTM | 20 | +1:11.031 | 12 | ||
| 17 | 45 |  Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | 20 | +2:05.461 | 23 | ||
| Ret | 25 | Alex Baldolini | Aprilia | 14 | Retirement | 17 | ||
| Ret | 52 | Lukáš Pešek | Aprilia | 12 | Accident | 16 | ||
| Ret | 58 | Marco Simoncelli | Gilera | 7 | Accident | 6 | ||
| Ret | 10 |  Imre Tóth | Aprilia | 4 | Retirement | 22 | ||
| Ret | 43 | Manuel Hernández | Aprilia | 0 | Accident | 21 | ||
| Ret | 50 |  Eugene Laverty | Aprilia | 0 | Accident | 20 | ||
| OFFICIAL 250cc REPORT | ||||||||
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round one has concluded.[5]
| Rider | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casey Stoner | 25 | |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | 20 | |
| 3 | Dani Pedrosa | 16 | |
| 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | 13 | |
| 5 | Valentino Rossi | 11 |
| Constructor | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ducati | 25 | |
| 2 | Yamaha | 20 | |
| 3 | Honda | 16 | |
| 4 | Suzuki | 8 | |
| 5 | Kawasaki | 4 |
