Qatar International Racetrack
Stone-Laying Ceremony

Doha Qatar: (Sunday 14 December 2003) The Stone-Laying Ceremony for the Qatar International Racetrack was held today at the track, just outside Doha the capital of Qatar.

Several dignitaries, current and ex motorcycle racers attended this affair.

The symbolic "first stone" has been laid by the Prime Minister while reigning MotoGP World champion Valentino Rossi and former champion Mick Doohan watched.

Construction of the circuit, (5.4 Km, 16 turns with a 1068m straight), is well advanced in preparation for the first Motorcycle GP of Qatar on October 2, 2004.

QMMF president Naser Bin Khalifa Al-Ateiah and Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna – the company that promotes MotoGP racing worldwide – reached agreement at the Italian GP in June 2004 on staging the first MotoGP at a Middle Eastern venue and since then the project has been on a fast track.

'"This is a very different place to all the other countries in which we race, and I look forward to being a part of the first ever MotoGP racing in Qatar." said Valentino Rossi at the ceremony.

Qatari architects presented the final layout in September, site works began in October and the track should be laid and surfaced soon into the new year.

FIM safety representative Claude Danis, who was also present at the weekend's meeting, will inspect the track when it is finished before awarding of a certificate of homologation and the go-ahead for Qatar's first World championship motorcycle race.