By Matt Roberts BBC Sport in Qatar

And they're off - MotoGP's moonlight ride starts in Qatar

The first race of the season is always a bit strange - it's a bit like the first day back at school, with everybody renewing acquaintances, all kitted out in their new uniforms.

But there was a bizarre feeling to the Qatar paddock because it was a night race - being three hours ahead of British time but with the practice schedule running nine hours later than normal was really confusing!

People didn't know when to sleep, eat or go to the beach, and then when we were at the track it was a challenge to stay awake.

It wasn't too bad for the riders, most of whom had stayed in Doha for a week after the final preseason test session to get their body clocks in tune.

606: DEBATE Your views on the start of the new season

250cc veteran Alex Debon kept himself awake at night by watching DVDs.

"If I started to fall asleep, I just had a shower," he told us. You have to feel sorry for the people next door, who must have thought he had some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder.

As many a regular clubber will testify, Valentino Rossi is no stranger to late nights and has in the past been known to need a knock on the motorhome door to wake him up.

So a late start would have seemed ideal for the Italian socialite.

But not even an afternoon lounging by the hotel pool in a conspicuously bright yellow 'Vale 46' t-shirt and dark shades was quite enough to fully charge his batteries.

"I love racing at this time but I'm still lacking a bit of rhythm so maybe we should race even later!" he said.

Could this be Valentino Rossi's 2009 racing outfit?

Rumours that Italy's most celebrated celebrator wants the floodlights replaced with disco lights and a glitter ball next year to help him 'get into his rhythm' are so far unconfirmed.

Toni El�as has been known to enjoy a night out with Rossi so it was no surprise he caught Night Fever too.

"It feels like I'm going on a night out!" he said before first practice.

"Actually, I prefer it because when we practice in the morning I'm usually half asleep."

At least morning practice might have given Toni a decent excuse for being two seconds off the pace all weekend on virtually the same bike as race winner Casey Stoner.

Overall, the lights were a huge success and with the guys in charge of the lights now heading to Malaysia for discussions, night racing could become a regular fixture.

Pre-season mind games between Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa apparently began in January, when the world's most serious Spaniard ditched his usual number 26 in favour of the number 2 plate, possibly a dig at Pedrosa having pipped Rossi for runner-up spot in the final race of last year's championship.

The world's most serious Spaniard is a barrel of laughs really

So conspiracy theorists went into overdrive on Friday when Rossi mysteriously shut the throttle in the middle of a fourth gear corner, giving Pedrosa nowhere else to go but headfirst into the gravel trap.

"I'm really sorry that Pedrosa fell, and I hope that he is okay," said Rossi afterwards.

"I was riding normally, if not at lap record pace, but I think he was travelling faster behind me and wasn't able to stop when he exited the turn and hit me from behind. It was unlucky."

If you ask me, escaping from a crash at 160mph without breaking any bones is anything but unlucky.

It was an amazing weekend for the British youngsters in the 125cc class.

Bradley Smith started from pole, Scott Redding was on the front row for his debut and Danny Webb fifth on the grid, after a disastrous 2007.

Bradley began superbly but my grid sources tell me that the team knew the bike would give way at some point or other, it was only a question of when.

One crash too many during practice had taken its toll on the bike but he battled through and only just missed out on the points.

Just wait till they grow up - the young British Lions cause a stir

Scott, or Otis as he is now known in the pressroom, was the youngest rider in the history of the sport to start from the front row and produced an unbelievable ride to challenge for the podium.

A superb weekend for the trio did not go unnoticed by the international press, Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport leading one of their Saturday pages with the headline: 'Smith, Webb e Redding: il futuro parla inglese' ('Smith, Webb and Redding: the future speaks English').

It is amazing to think that just four years ago, MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso were crossing the line side by side in the 125cc race at this very circuit (the only dead heat on record in any class of MotoGP, although Lorenzo was given the win because he had the fastest lap, trivia fans).

It shows that Bradley, Scott and Danny are all in the right place to develop their MotoGP careers.

If they can follow the path of Lorenzo and Dovizioso and join the remarkable James Toseland in MotoGP, then we really will have something to cheer about.