Reigning MotoGP World Champ reckons Ducati are making progress with the Desmosedici, despite being only 7th fastest
AFTER four days at the Estoril circuit, reigning MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner says he’s inching ahead with the nervous front-end development of the factory Ducati – even though he could only manage seventh fastest time.
While Dani Pedrosa topped the timesheets, 0.25s ahead of Valentino Rossi and Wunderkind Andrea Dovizioso, Stoner managed a best of 1m 37.613 on race tyres and 1m 37.333 on qualifying tyres, said:
"I'm happy with the work we've done today. We modified a few things that made the bike a little less nervous over the bumps and allowed me to lap in 1m37s with more consistency than I managed yesterday.
"We also tried a few new tyres and found some interesting things. At the end of the day I tried two qualifiers but I preferred not to try a third one because it had been a long day and it was pointless taking risks when I was tired. I'm really happy with the work we've done and the pace we found. I'm sure the improvements will help us when we get to China but now I'm just looking forward to heading back to Australia and spend some time relaxing with the family."
His team-mate Marco Melandri put in 78 laps during testing but was still way off Stoner’s pace, clocking a best of 1m 39.725 on race rubber. He said: "Today we tried a different weight distribution to try and improve the grip, braking and corner entry. Things have improved a little and I'm quite pleased. We need to continue and be positive, work together and I'm sure we'll find the way forward."
Final Estoril Testing Lap Times
1. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 1:36.455
2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 1:36.707
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1:36.791
4. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda) 1:36.928
5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 1:37.145
6. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 1:37.146
7. Casey STONER (Ducati) 1:37.330
8. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1:37.617
9. Shinya NAKANO (Honda) 1:37.725
10. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:37.767
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:37.781
12. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1:37.782
13. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki) 1:38.023
14. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1:38.695
15. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki) 1:39.065
16. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati) 1:39.223
17. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati) 1:39.725
