
For the twelfth year in a row the speed, power, glamour and clamour of MotoGP will start around the flat and fast curves of the Losail circuit in Qatar. Not quite in the dark though. For the first time the Grand Prix opener of the FIM World Championship will occur at dusk rather than the bright bath of the 3600 light bulbs around the venue outside of the capital of Doha.
Perhaps the slight variations on braking markers and apexes will still feel very fresh to the majority of the MotoGP grid with the third and final official test of the pre-season period having taken place just two weeks earlier. After the freak rain disruption of 2017 the decision to nudge the first round of nineteen a few hours earlier in the day should make for a spectacular setting in the desert landscape; a time of year when motorcyclists and racing fans all sign-in to watch the new colours and the form and potential of the fastest riders in the world.