The third and final pre-season Test ended in Qatar on Friday with Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner the quickest across the two evenings. A best lap of 1’55.353 set under the Losail floodlights came on the second night, before he had a fall on his Desmosedici GP10 which did not result in any injury. The Australian’s time was less than a tenth of a second off his 2009 pole position time at the circuit.
Valentino Rossi, who had topped the timesheet in the two previous Tests at Sepang and was fastest in the opening session in Qatar, was less than five-hundredths of a second behind Stoner as he worked on electronics on his Fiat Yamaha M1. The Italian’s best time placed him second overall.
Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso was a further 0.4s down the timings as he achieved a better chassis setting on his factory RC212V prototype. The Italian’s lap of 1’55.879 was set in the second session, with Ben Spies’ (Monster Yamaha Tech3) fine effort of 1’55.954 from the previous night the fourth and final under the 1’56” mark. Spies was the highest placing rookie of the Test, as he confirmed his setting on the M1 for the opening race at the circuit. The Texan experienced a fall on each of the two evenings, neither of which resulted in any ill effects as he rode for the first time under the circuit’s floodlights.
Nicky Hayden rounded out the top five for the Test with a time of 1’56.115. The American suffered a crash late in session two at the same point – Turn 2 – as Stoner and was unharmed, and he was followed by Loris Capirossi of the Rizla Suzuki team. The Italian tried new chassis and swingarm components on his GSV-R, which produced results in the second session to place him as the final rider within a second of Stoner thanks to a time of 1’56.195.
Jorge Lorenzo arrived in Qatar carrying the hand injury that prevented him from participating at the last Test in Malaysia, but the Spanish Fiat Yamaha rider pushed through the pain barrier. His time of 1’56.504 put him in seventh position overall and was equal with that of Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda).
Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Colin Edwards (1’56.540) – who was also a victim of a fall in the second session, again at Turn 2 – and Mika Kallio of Pramac Racing (1’56.767) rounded off the top ten times.
Notably outside the top ten was Dani Pedrosa, as the Repsol Honda rider ended the Test 13th fastest overall at just over 1.5s off the top time. He was followed in the times by Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) who had a very late crash in session two – as did his team-mate, rookie Marco Simoncelli.
2010 Qatar MotoGP final pre-season test times
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap Laps
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m55.353s 51
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m55.860s + 0.507s 57
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m55.879s + 0.526s 66
4. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m56.115s + 0.762s 51
5. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m56.195s + 0.842s 58
6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m56.504s + 1.151s 44
7. Randy De Puniet LCR Honda 1m56.504s + 1.151s 66
8. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m56.722s + 1.369s 48
9. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m56.767s + 1.414s 74
10. Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha 1m56.779s + 1.426s 44
11. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m56.897s + 1.544s 64
12. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m56.898s + 1.545s 71
13. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m56.935s + 1.582s 56
14. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 1m57.222s + 1.869s 64
15. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m57.223s + 1.870s 74
16. Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 1m57.251s + 1.898s 81
17. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m57.379s + 2.026s 56
