Valentino Rossi's win in Qatar seen in all of its HD glory!

by Scott Keller | motorpundit.com | http://www.twitter.com/motorpundit

Valentino Rossi capitalized on Casey Stoner’s major error and held of Andrea Divizioso to win the Grand Prix of Qatar in the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship.  The field of 17 riders put on a heck of a show at the start of the race, especially Dani Pedrosa who rocketed into the lead from the 7th grid position.

But there was no holding back the Ducatis and Yamahas, and Pedrosa's time at the front was short-lived.  Casey Stoner battled back to the front after a slow start from the pole, and he had Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden in tow.

Nicky Hayden was extremely racy, especially in the early laps, and he appeared to be feeling more comfortable on this year’s Ducati machine than last year’s edition.   Hayden ended up fourth with a good ride.

But as the battle continued up front, Stoner made a wild mistake and put his machine in the gravel on only the fifth lap.  The man that looked unbeatable at Qatar ended up beating himself.  Rossi assumed the lead and held off Divizioso for the win.

Ben Spies was the top rookie, finishing fifth.  His result isn’t so surprising after a strong qualifying effort, and a stellar resume of wins in World Superbike.

HD is exactly what MotoGP needed
Watching Rossi win is something we are all used to. But seeing it in high definition on SPEED for the first time is not!

The new HD TV package did not disappoint.

It was evident to me that HD could do for MotoGP what it has similarly done for the NHL. Both sports are fast, colorful, and a little more difficult to follow than other similar style sports. The standard definition coverage of MotoGP had been grainy (although I’m thankful that SPEED carried it faithfully), and following the bikes required viewers to be somewhat familiar with the looks of each bike/rider combination to tell who was who. Watching a MotoGP race was sort of like watching a YouTube channel rather than a big league sporting event on TV.

That is all different now. The HD picture was breathtaking, and the bikes looked amazing under the lights of Qatar. The speed, the color, the details of the mechanical parts of the bike all are more brilliant, more clear.   The viewing experience reminded me of that moment when the eye doctor fitted me with my first pair of glasses and I realized how much detail I had been missing in the world.

I can’t wait to see more races in 2010.

MotoGP resumes their schedule in Japan in two weeks with live coverage on Speed at 2 a.m. ET on Sunday, April 25th.  SPEED will also replay the Japan race on Monday April 26th at 1 p.m.