January 11th, 2008 by R.J.

In an interview with Reuters, Marco Melandri indicated that he is eagerly waiting the season-opening night race in Qatar.

“It will be awesome. An amazing event for everybody. I can’t wait to test the weekend before the race,” Melandri told Reuters at Ducati’s winter ski retreat in northern Italy.

It will be the first time the MotoGP has pulled off a night race, and nobody is sure what to expect. Some critics contend that the night race is just a gimmick with MotoGP continuing to battle for audiences with the Superbike championship.

And so what if it is? Many other racing series have been racing at night for a long time. MotoGP already races during rain or shine… Why shouldn’t they, too, race at night? It makes the championship a lot more dynamic.

I know I will definitely be tuning in to that race, gimmick or not.