MotoGP – Losail Test Day 3 – Stoner very fast ahead of Lorenzo and Rossi

Australian Casey Stoner closed the third and final day of MotoGP night testing on the Losail circuit in Qatar with the best time. The Ducati rider in fact set a time of 1'55.744 on the twenty-second of the thirty-one laps made; the track record belongs to the Ducati rider who set a time of 1'55.153 in 2008. Stoner would have liked to do a greater number of laps but at the end of the day he said he was satisfied even if he postponed a final judgment on the new swingarm carbon. The 2007 world champion also crashed without physical consequences at turn two. Behind Stoner were the two Yamahas of Team Fiat with Jorge Lorenzo second with a time of 1'56.733 (he completed 82 laps) and Valentino Rossi third with a time of 1'56.972. The Pesaro rider consistently ran at an excellent pace and preceded the excellent Chris Vermeulen on Suzuki.

Nicky Hayden put in a good performance, the American from Ducati is in fact fifth ahead of Loris Capirossi (who crashed without physical consequences) on Suzuki and the first Honda, that of the Frenchman Randy De Puniet. Behind the Team LCR rider we find our Andrea Dovizioso with the only Honda Repsol on the track (Pedrosa crashed yesterday and had to give up this last day of testing), the Texan Colin Edwards and the Team Gresini riders Alex De Angelis and Toni Elias.

Twelfth and thirteenth times for the Pramac Racing Ducatis of Mika Kallio and Niccolò Canepa (crashed without physical consequences); the Genoese lapped in 1'57.946, putting the Honda of Yuki Takahashi (who crashed without physical consequences), the Yamaha of James Toseland and Marco Melandri behind him. The rider from Ravenna who made his debut with the new Hayate Racing Team in Losail is over three seconds from the top, a gap that certainly isn't good for the morale of the former Ducati rider.

The appointment for the next tests is for March 28th and 29th on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit and then we will return to Losail on April 12th for the first race of the 2009 season.

MotoGP Qatar Official Night Test – Day 3 – The times

1. Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro Team – 1'55.744 (31)
2. Jorge Lorenzo, Fiat Yamaha Team – 1'56.733 (82)
3. Valentino Rossi, Fiat Yamaha Team – 1'56.972 (75)
4. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki MotoGP – 1'57.224 (70)
5. Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team – 1'57.225 (53)
6. Loris Capirossi, Suzuki MotoGP – 1'57.253 (42)
7. Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda MotoGP – 1'57.401 (77)
8. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda – 1'57.449 (74)
9. Colin Edwards, Monster Yamaha Tech3 – 1'57.515 (46)
10. Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini – 1'57.591 (61)
11. Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini – 1'57.804 (66)
12. Mika Kallio, Pramac Racing – 1'57.938 (54)
13. Niccolo Canepa, Pramac Racing – 1'57.946 (50)
14. Yuki Takahashi, Scot Racing Team – 1'58.412 (61)
15. James Toseland, Monster Yamaha Tech3 – 1'58.786 (51)
16. Marco Melandri, Hayate Racing Team – 1'58.851 (73)