Casey Stoner bossy in MotoGP Opener

Italian racer Marco Simoncelli's tragic death in Malaysia last year can never be a distant memory for the riders in the world championship. But things do move on and as the new MotoGP season begins with the opening round - the Grand Prix of Qatar - under floodlights at Losail International Circuit this weekend, riders are busy getting to grips with the new challenges and changes brought about in the sport as part of its natural evolution.The only night race in the MotoGP calendar is sure toprovide its fair share of thrills and spills, especially with the upgraded bikesproviding the riders an opportunity to rewrite the record books at the 5.38-kmLosail track.This year will see the premier class (MotoGP) riderssaddle up on much more powerful bikes, with the FIM (international motorcyclingfederation) increasing the engine capacity of the hardware from 800cc to 1000cc.The Moto2 class will have bikes running on 600cc four-stroke engines while inMoto3, where Indian team Mahindra Racing is competing, the engine grunt has beenincreased from 125cc to 250cc - another big change there being the shift fromtwo-strokes to four-stroke engines.For Mahindra Racing, who madetheir debut in the world championships last year in the 125cc category, it willagain be a challenge to come up to pace competing with established biggies ofracing, including KTM and Honda.Last year they did climb up the pecking order as the season progressed, with their English rider Danny Webb and German Marcel Schrotter finishing among the points in most of the races with Webb's pole position in the final race of the season as the highlight.But the bar has been raised this season, not just by theincrease in engine specifics, but also by the competition too. If Thursday'sfree practice timings in Doha are anything to go by, Mahindra boys have theirwork cut out to make an impact in the opening round.Webb was 20thduring the second free practice session on Thursday while Schrotter was twospots below him, their timings close to three seconds off the fastest rider inMoto3 - Spaniard Maverick Vinales of Team Blusens Avinitia riding an FTRHonda.Meanwhile, Casey Stoner seems to be starting from where he left off last season in the MotoGP class, the defending world champion clocking the fastest time on Thursday on his Honda.The Aussie clocked 1 minute and 56.474 seconds to edge out former champion Jorge Lorenzo on a Yamaha with Ducati's Nicky Hayden off the pace by more than half a second in third place.Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi will have anuphill ride this weekend. The Italian had a miserable start, managing the 10thquickest time on Thursday, more importantly, over a second behind his rivalStoner.