Stoner ends Losail visit ahead of competitors again
Tuesday, 03 March 2009
As the last night of testing at the Losail International Circuit got underway on Tuesday it was Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner leading the way on the timesheets.
Winner of the last two MotoGP races at the Losail International Circuit, including last year’s historical first ever floodlit Grand Prix, Casey Stoner showed his strength around the 5.38km desert track again on Tuesday night.
The night time practice visit to Qatar, the second preseason test for the 2009 MotoGP field, ended with Stoner setting the pace just as he did in the opening test of the year in Malaysia in February.
Stoner’s best effort of 1’55.744 was recorded shortly after 9pm on the 22nd of his 31 turns under the floodlights, the Australian completing far fewer laps than any of his rivals. The test saw him successfully debut a new carbon fibre swingarm on the Desmosedici GP9, though he was unable to undertake a race simulation and kept to short bursts on track as he rebuilds the strength in his left wrist, which was operated on over the winter.
Stoner crashed without consequence on turn two around ten minutes after setting his best time, but was back out on track within an hour.
Last year’s Qatar poleman Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) got closest to Stoner on the timesheet, though he was nearly a full second (0.989s) behind the Ducati rider, with his best time registered late in the evening. Lorenzo’s colleague Valentino Rossi completed the top three with a 1’56.972 effort as the only other rider to go round under the 1’57 mark, the Italian satisfied with a new electronics system on the Yamaha M1.
The top five was rounded off by Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen, his best time arriving on the last of his 70 laps, and Stoner’s new team-mate for 2009 Nicky Hayden.
Also featuring in the top ten were Vermeulen’s Suzuki colleague Loris Capirossi, fastest Honda representative Randy de Puniet, factory Honda newcomer Andrea Dovizioso, the experienced Colin Edwards and San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis.
There were also crashes for Capirossi on turn six, Niccolo Canepa at turn 13 and Yuki Takahasi at turn three, but all three riders were reportedly unhurt.
Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Prev. Gap Lead. Gap Laps
1 Casey Stoner AUS 1:55.744 - - 31
2 Jorge Lorenzo SPA 1:56.733 +0.989 +0.989 82
3 Valentino Rossi ITA 1:56.972 +0.239 +1.228 75
4 Chris Vermeulen AUS 1:57.224 +0.252 +1.480 70
5 Nicky Hayden USA 1:57.225 +0.001 +1.481 53
6 Loris Capirossi ITA 1:57.253 +0.028 +1.509 42
7 Randy De Puniet FRA 1:57.401 +0.148 +1.657 77
8 Andrea Dovizioso ITA 1:57.449 +0.048 +1.705 74
9 Colin Edwards USA 1:57.515 +0.066 +1.771 46
10 Alex De Angelis RSM 1:57.591 +0.076 +1.847 61
11 Toni Elias SPA 1:57.804 +0.213 +2.060 66
12 Mika Kallio FIN 1:57.938 +0.134 +2.194 54
13 Niccolo Canepa ITA 1:57.946 +0.008 +2.202 50
14 Yuki Takahashi JPN 1:58.412 +0.466 +2.668 61
15 James Toseland GBR 1:58.786 +0.374 +3.042 51
16 Marco Melandri ITA 1:58.851 +0.065 +3.107 73
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