It's officially MotoGP World Championship race-season at the Losail circuit in Qatar, where the new, prototype 800cc machines will compete in their first race of the new era of MotoGP, replacing the 990cc four-strokes utilised in the past few seasons. The Pramac D’Antin MotoGP team will run "customer-specification" Ducati Desmosedici GP7 bikes and is excited to begin the fantastic new challenge that the 2007 MotoGP World Championship presents, and comes equipped with a fierce determination to achieve maximum results.

After a successful pre-season, which saw the team regularly challenging for the lead amidst the front-runners, and an internal revolution in both the technical and organizational departments, the team is primed and ready to fight, and it is with this new attitude for the new era that Pramac D'Antin MotoGP will contest the 2007 MotoGP World Championship.

The return of Alex Barros, whose extensive experience in MotoGP is invaluable, the resurgence of Alex Hofmann, who brings youth and vitality, the excellent material provided by Ducati, new tyre supplier, Bridgestone, and the Team’s restyling and new image for 2007, are all vital elements of the Italo-Spanish Team, which wants to be as competitive as possible. The race weekend will begin tomorrow (Thursday, March 8th), with free practice, while the race will will be run on Saturday, March 10th.    

Luis d’ Antin – Team Principal: "Finally the first race  has arrived and we are looking forward at this moment! After the good results of the winter tests, in particular at the Losail circuit Qatar, we are confident to do a good race this weekend.
 

"We  know  that we have a lot of work to do to be  very competitive in this new  World Championship, but we have an high potential at our disposal and both the riders have excellent qualities. If we are able to  work well on the bike, I’m sure  we will achieve important results.”

Alex Barros: “I’m anxious to get the 2007 World Championship started! The tests in Qatar went very well for us, and we found a good race setting and a  good tire solution, also; this make me very confident that we are able to make a good performance. Despite one year away from MotoGP, I reached good feeling with my Ducati GP7 almost immediately, at the first winter test of '07. I’m deeply motivated and I can't wait to mix it up again with the fastest riders in the world." 

Alex Hofmann: “I’m ready and very excited to get down to the track!  For us, it's very important start the season well from the very first race. We have solid foundation to start from, thanks to the excellent test we just had this past month at this circuit. This track itself isn’t very fast, and there are lots of direction changes, so for this reason it's important to have an agile and balanced bike. I really love this kind of course, where our tires work really well, and I hope to performance at my best and obtain excellent results. This year is very important for me, because with the material at our disposition we can be highly competitive. I want do my best, and forget about the past.”

The International Losail Circuit was built in the 2004, when it hosted it's first MotoGP World Championship race. It's the third longest circuit in the Championship, at 5.380 meters (3.34 miles), with a straightaway 1,068 meters long (.66 miles), and 16 difficult and tricky turns. One of the essential characteristics of this circuit has been the incredible heat from the surrounding desert, and for this reason the race is now contested in March, instead of April. Riders never forget about the sand that blows continuously onto the track, making it slippery and treacherous.