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2009-03-05 Stoner finishes Qatar test on top
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 Casey Stoner finished Qatar test just fraction of the second clear from his rivals, demonstrating speed despite still not being in best physical state. Stoner set time of 1:55.774, which is still bit slower than his 2008. lap record time, but since his opponents were quite far back, it seems that Australian rider will be one of the most serious title pretenders in 2009. Jorge Lorenzo, who was not in the top of the time sheets in recent tests, popped to second place, while Rossi had to settle in 3rd. Read rider impressions after the test:
Casey Stoner - 1:55.744 - 31 laps:
I’m obviously very happy with the lap time and the rhythm we put together today although I would have liked to have been able to get a few more laps in and test some more stuff. We knew the track conditions would get worse at around ten o’clock and that proved to be the case. The crash was on the way into turn 2 and it was very similar to the one here last year – practically from an upright position. I got straight back on the other bike but with such an unpredictable track we decided to finish an hour early because the conditions were only getting worse. We still managed to try a few things with the electronics – some of them good and some not so good and we confirmed the good feeling I had yesterday with the new swingarm, although we still need more time to work on it and that’s what we’ll be doing at Jerez. The wrist has responded quite well – it’s not as painful as it was at Sepang even though the mobility still hasn’t improved much. We’ll have to see how at feels at circuits with harder braking and more left-hand corners, which is where I struggle the most.
Jorge Lorenzo - 1:56.733 - 82 laps:
I am so happy tonight because this session has been much, much better for us. The long run was especially good but in fact the whole evening has been an improvement, so I am very pleased about the job we have done. We’ve tried some different settings, which have helped, but mainly I have adapted and found a way to be comfortable, which means I can ride faster. I have a much better feeling with the Bridgestone tyres and I was able to be very consistent throughout the long run and keep a good rhythm. Everyone has worked really hard to make this step and I am happy to finish this test on a good note. Now I am looking forward to the race!
Valentino Rossi - 1:56.972 - 75 laps:
In the early part of the evening we were fast enough but later on, when it became much colder and the grip went down, we suffered quite a bit. I started a long run but in fact I was getting slower and slower, so we didn’t finish and concentrated on trying some different things with the setting instead. Our position is not so bad; we’re third, close to Lorenzo. Stoner is very fast but I am not too worried because we have a good idea about our path for the race and I think that in one month, when it is hopefully a few degrees warmer, we will be okay. This is not a great track for me or for the bike and the target for the race will be to be to be better than last year! Next we go to Jerez for the final test and I am expecting to be strong there.
Nicky Hayden - 1:57.225 - 53 laps:
That was definitely a good day and we’ve made plenty of progress so I’m really pleased. I was thinking this morning that this would be the right time to take a step forward because we’ve only got two more days of testing before the season started so it’s obviously very satisfying to have done that. There is still plenty to do but my team has worked well and now we have a lot of information to work on. I got a good feel for the new swingarm straight away but we still have work to do and we need to make more comparisons with the previous version before drawing definite conclusions. I would have liked to have done more laps but after ten o’clock the conditions were on the limit, to the point that there were a few guys crashing and running straight, so we decided not to take any risks. I also did a practice start today and a test at switching bikes quickly in case of a race interrupted by rain.
Randy De Puniet - 1:57.401 - 77 laps:
All in all I’m satisfied of these 3 days of testing. We made an important step forward compared to Sepang. This evening I had a better feeling on the bike, my riding style adapted more to the machine and I understood how to use the Bridgestone front tyre at its best, especially entering the turns. Stoner is incredible fast so we need to work hard.
Andrea Dovizioso - 1:57.449 – 74 laps:
All in all I'm quite satisfied with these three days of testing because we have learned a lot. Today's session didn't go exactly according to plan because after an hour we started to get some chatter, which complicated the session and meant we had to adapt our plan for the day. I was able to do a longer run of 15 laps which showed that we still need to make some machine adjustments to suit the Bridgestone tyres. For this circuit specifically we need to improve the grip entering the turns, and in general find a smoother power delivery. There is still quite a lot of work to do, but I'm still pleased because we learned a lot about the bike at this test.
Colin Edwards - 1:57.515:
I am really happy with this test. It didn’t start well with the rain on the first night and the wind blew a lot of sand and dust onto the track on the second night, so the lap times were still way off normal pace. But I was still one of the quickest and i’ve got to say the Yamaha and Bridgestone combination is very impressive. I’ve just been concentrating on trying to find a good setting for the race, even though we expect the temperature to be a little warmer when we return but I’m really confident. I couldn’t believe my race simulation. The grip from Bridgestone is really incredible and I’m seriously impressed. The grip just gets better the more distance you run on it and I did my best lap in the race simulation on thel last lap. That’s just not something I’m used to at all. All we’ve been doing is working hard as a team. Things are going great with Guy Coulon. We’ve got one more test in Jerez to work on a few more things but I’m ready to race. I feel stronger and more motivated than ever.
Alex De Angelis - 1:57.591 – 61 laps:
Today the track conditions were better but we couldn’t improve as we expected. We suffered from rear chattering so we worked on adapting the machine to Bridgestone tyres. At the end we improved a bit. All in all I’m quite happy with this test session, the bike is fast but we need to work to improve the traction in order to use all the potential of the bike.
Toni Elias - 1:57.804 - 66 laps:
We continued working on the geometry of the bike and suspension trying to improve my feeling with the rear. We tested some radical solutions but we didn’t get the results we expected. My feeling is that we need more traction and also with more rear tyre contact on the asphalt.
Yuki Takahashi - 1:58.412 - 61 laps:
I’m still studying the bike set up but lap by lap my feeling is improving and we make a progress. Today I started to push a little bit and had a small crash but I continued on my second bike. I’m still learning but I’m confident and really looking forward to testing at Jerez.
James Toseland – 1:58.851:
It has not been an easy test but on the last night I felt like we were finding a good direction and I was certainly feeling a lot more comfortable on the bike. The crash in Sepang hit my confidence and it took me a while to find my rhythm, but I feel I can go much faster now. There is still plenty of work to do but I was 1.5s faster on the last night, and I just need time on the bike. I had a bit of an issue with the feeling from soft front tyre, which I had to run later on during the evening as the track temperature got cooler. I was comfortable with the hard front tyre but it was too hard for the colder temperatures. I can still improve and I learned about the bike and the tyres at this test, and at the end I’m only just over a second behind Colin and he has been consistently fast.
Losail Circuit
Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008) 1:55.153
Best pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008) 1:53.927
Unofficial lap times Tuesday 03.03.2009
1. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1:55.744
2. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1:56.733
3. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1:56.972
4. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki MotoGP 1:57.224
5. Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 1:57.225
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki MotoGP 1:57.253
7. Randy De Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1:57.401
8. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 1:57.449
9. Colin Edwards Tech3 Yamaha 1:57.515
10. Alex De Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:57.591
11. Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:57.804
12. Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 1:57.938
13. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Racing 1:57.946
14. Yuki Takahashi Scot Racing Team 1:58.412
15. James Toseland Tech3 Yamaha 1:58.786
16. Marco Melandri Hayate Racing Team 1:58.851
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