Italian motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi has given his thumbs up to nighttime racing after testing it at the Losail track in Qatar.
The MotoGP season kicks off March 9 with the Qatar Grand Prix which will be the first ever to be staged at night.
''There was a lot of curiosity about the nighttime test and I have to say that the result was satisfactory,'' the seven-time world champion said on Friday.
''The conditions were very similar to daytime riding. The visibility was excellent and I didn't see any additional dangers due to the lighting,'' Rossi added.
''They did a really good job,'' the 29-year-old Italian said.
The only complaint Rossi had was about the temperature of the air outside, which in the desert is noticeably colder at night.
''Maybe they should move this race to a time when it's a little warmer at night, because it's really cold now,'' the Yamaha rider said.
Organizers opted for a nighttime race in Qatar because of the extreme heat during the day.
The Losail track is about the size of 70 football fields and to illuminate it the American company Musco set up a system which needs 5.4 million watts of power.
The same amount could illuminate 3,000 homes or light up a street running from the capital of Qatar Doha all the way to Moscow.
