The big changes to the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 already brought in during the early stages of preseason, the relatively minor details are being refined in the final tests before the season curtain-raiser in Qatar. For this week’s night test in Losail the latest item on the agenda is a new swingarm, used by the factory riders under the night sky.
Timesheet topper Casey Stoner was able to run the rear suspension fork on Monday night, in a brief ride on his last stint out of the garage. Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo commented on the findings, indicating no big worries with the part’s introduction.
After the rain upset the first night of testing on Sunday, Fiat Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were finally able to make a proper start on their testing programme in Qatar on Monday.
Running under floodlights in preparation for the season-opener in a month’s time, the talented pair were able to put in a good night’s work despite a late-evening break when the track was red-flagged after two riders crashed.
With cool temperatures and a dirty track surface after high winds earlier, lap times were well off record pace but Rossi was able to put in some consistent times and finished the night second behind Casey Stoner. Lorenzo is still looking to find his confidence in the new Bridgestone tyres but he improved gradually throughout the evening to finish in seventh.
An already difficult preseason for Spanish Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took a turn for the worse on Monday at the MotoGP Official Night Test, as he crashed heavily on turn ten of the Losail International Circuit, sustaining blows to his already injured left knee and the left hand which he hurt at Sachsenring last season.
Dovizioso made encouraging progress on his factory RC212V and set the fourth fastest lap of the day while he and his team focused on electronic settings. Though a strong wind blowing sand across the track meant that the MotoGP riders’ lap times were not as fast as in the race here in 2008, Dovizioso completed 60 laps and set the fourth fastest time of the day, a 1m 57.879s lap, which was 0.740s off Casey Stoner’s best. Dovizioso will return to Losail tomorrow for the final session of this three-day test.
Always a bluntly realistic rider, Marco Melandri has warned that he will need time to get fully acquainted with the Hayate Racing bike that has salvaged his participation in the 2009 season. The second fastest man on track on Sunday night in Qatar, in a session that saw reduced activity as a result of rainfall, Melandri put in the most laps of any rider -35- as he searched for comfort on the Ninja ZX-RR.
Breaching the 2’01 barrier with his quickest lap as one of only two riders to do so, the former MotoGP World Championship runner-up played down any overly positive conclusions from the Sunday action.
“I need so much more time. I did only a few laps and the times were pretty slow because of the dirty track,” he explained after the session.
“The bike is also completely different to the ’08 that I used in November; I need a few more hours to understand it but the first impression was quite good.”
Melandri was at least familiar with the Qatar track after a recent scouting operation, when he competed at the circuit as part of the Speedcar Series. In between the announcement of his reincorporation into MotoGP and his Sunday test appearance, the Italian also had time to participate in the latest round of the series at Dubai this past weekend –where he finished tenth and eighth.
Preparing for their debut on the biggest stage, the MotoGP debutants are busy learning their lines for opening night in Qatar. That is the case for newcomer Yuki Takahashi, who chose an appropriate rider to whom to play understudy on the second night at Losail.
The Scot Racing rider´s former 250cc teammate and predecessor in the satellite squad, Andrea Dovizioso made an impressive debut to finish fourth at last years Grand Prix in Qatar. The Italian found time on Monday night to show the ropes to Takahashi, leaving the Japanese newcomer grateful for his help.
Session 2 - 02/03/09
| Pos | Rider | Country | Fastest lap | Prev. Gap | Lead. Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casey Stoner | AUS | 1:57.139 | - | - | 37 |
| 2 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | 1:57.747 | +0.608 | +0.608 | 51 |
| 3 | Colin Edwards | USA | 1:57.817 | +0.070 | +0.678 | 41 |
| 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | 1:57.879 | +0.062 | +0.740 | 60 |
| 5 | Chris Vermeulen | AUS | 1:58.018 | +0.139 | +0.879 | 24 |
| 6 | Loris Capirossi | ITA | 1:58.264 | +0.246 | +1.125 | 42 |
| 7 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | 1:58.400 | +0.136 | +1.261 | 63 |
| 8 | Alex De Angelis | RSM | 1:58.441 | +0.041 | +1.302 | 53 |
| 9 | Nicky Hayden | USA | 1:58.577 | +0.136 | +1.438 | 54 |
| 10 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | 1:58.619 | +0.042 | +1.480 | 28 |
| 11 | Randy De Puniet | FRA | 1:58.936 | +0.317 | +1.797 | 55 |
| 12 | Toni Elias | SPA | 1:59.036 | +0.100 | +1.897 | 56 |
| 13 | Yuki Takahashi | JPN | 1:59.153 | +0.117 | +2.014 | 65 |
| 14 | Marco Melandri | ITA | 1:59.195 | +0.042 | +2.056 | 63 |
| 15 | Niccolo Canepa | ITA | 1:59.266 | +0.071 | +2.127 | 36 |
| 16 | Mika Kallio | FIN | 1:59.764 | +0.498 | +2.625 | 48 |
| 17 | James Toseland | GBR | 2:00.234 | +0.470 | +3.095 | 51 |
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