Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team end 2010 preparations in Qatar The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team end its pre-season preparations for the 2010 MotoGP world championship in high spirits on a hot and humid night at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. With humid conditions reducing grip levels from the opening night, both Colin Edwards and Ben Spies were unable to improve their times tonight. The Texan pair were still able to carry out some valuable testing on the set-up of their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines and also assess a range of soft and hard compound front and rear Bridgestone tyres ahead of the first race under Qatar’s spectacular floodlights on April 11. Edwards ended tonight’s six-hour session with the eighth fastest time, a best lap of 1.56.722 less than 0.5s away from the top five. Spies was just two places further back in 10th with a best lap of 1.56.780. That was less than 0.1s away from Edwards’ pace. Spies’ best lap of 1.55.954 from the opening night was still good enough to secure him a top five place on the overall timesheets and boost his confidence ahead of his much-anticipated debut for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team next month. Both Edwards and Spies escaped injury in identical crashes at Turn Two tonight. Colin Edwards 8th 1.56.722 48 laps “It wasn’t the ending to testing I was looking for but it wasn’t too bad. I just didn’t really have a great feeling with the bike tonight and we need to have a think about things before we come back for the race next month. We’ve got some work to do because I just didn’t feel as comfortable on the bike as I did last year, mainly with the front-end. And I know I go good at this track because I had a good race last year and finished fourth. I’m not sure what happened with the crash but I did exactly the same as Ben. I was on the soft front tyre that I’d not really run that much on the first night. But I was on my sixth lap on the tyre, so it should have been ready to push. But I was down before I knew it and it is a fast crash, even if you’re only in second gear. I’m just glad I didn’t get hurt so close to the first race because that was a fast crash. I’m really excited about going racing now. It seems like a long time since Valencia and I’m sure we can have another great year with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.” Ben Spies 10th 1.56.780 44 laps “I didn’t have a great night really but that can happen. Everything that could go wrong went wrong tonight. But I’ve have had a great winter and this was the first session where it didn’t go the way we wanted it to. I’d had some small issues early on and went into Turn Two again and just lost the front. I wasn’t really sure what happened but then four people crashed in the next 30 minutes so it must have got really humid really quick because something wasn’t right with that many people going down in the same place. I did a few more laps to clear my head and got down to some decent times and I’m happy I did that. But it was still a successful test and I leave confident that I’ll be competitive for the race next month. I want to thank my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 for all their effort in the winter. We’ve done a good job and I feel we’re in a position to have a competitive start to the season.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: The third and final pre-season MotoGP Official 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 official 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. The riders will return to the circuit for the start of the 2010 FIM MotoGP World Championship on April 11th, when the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar takes place. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA TEAM WRAPS UP QATAR TEST Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso finished today’s MotoGP test in Qatar in a promising third place to complete a satisfying winter’s work for the Italian and his crew. This evening’s second testing session under floodlights ran from 6pm to midnight at the Losail International Circuit near Doha and was the final time the MotoGP riders will be out on track before the opening race of the season here in three weeks’ time. Dovizioso was true to his word from yesterday and continued the impressive progress he and his crew have been making since the new-for-2010 Honda RC212V was unveiled in November last year. Dovizioso improved his lap times by close to one second tonight, bringing his best down to 1m 55.880, which was good enough for third place on the timesheets and just 0.528s behind the top time. The Italian was pleased with the progress he made with fine tuning the bike set-up and weight distribution, and feels in good shape for April’s race. On the other side of the garage things were a little less fruitful for Dovizioso’s team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, who, after making a positive start to the evening’s testing, wasn’t able take the subsequent strides forward he’d hoped for. Working with his crew to find a combination of chassis and suspension settings that would allow him to push to the maximum, the three time World Champion couldn’t iron out the handling niggles which held him back yesterday. After just 12 laps he was able to improve his pace to 1m 56.935s early in today’s session – a lap time which remained his best when the chequered flag came out tonight. Pedrosa will be targeting a breakthrough early on when the MotoGP teams return to Losail for the first race of the 2010 season. With winter testing now complete, the Repsol Honda Team will reassemble here once more for the Grand Prix of Qatar which takes place on Sunday 11 April. Official lap times 1 Casey Stoner Marlboro Ducati 1’55.353 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 1’55.860 3 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 1’55.879 4 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati 1’56.115 5 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 1’56.195 6 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 1’56.504 7 Randy De Puniet LRC Honda 1’56.504 8 Colin Edwards Yamaha Tech3 1’56.722 9 Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1’56.767 10 Ben Spies Yamaha Tech3 1’56.779 11 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1’56.897 12 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki 1’56.898 13 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1’56.935 14 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda 1’57.222 15 Hector Barbera Aspar MotoGP team 1’57.223 16 Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 1’57.251 17 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda 1’57.379 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO Best lap 1m 55.879s 66 laps “I’m really satisfied with these two days of testing because we took another significant step forward. I’m pleased to have the third fastest time today because we improved both consistency and pace, which is a result of the hard work done by Honda and by my team. Today we focused on fine tuning the bike set -up and also the weight distribution. At the end of the session we wanted to do a race simulation but the track was too slippery because of the high humidity. Still, we have reduced the gap to Stoner and we are closer to Valentino as well. Of course we have to keep on working hard, but I’m happy to face the first round of the season with the machine package we have achieved so far.” DANI PEDROSA Best lap 1m 56.935s 56 laps “We started to make improvements early in tonight’s session, but after that we couldn’t make any more progress really and so of course I’m not satisfied with the results of this test. It’s obvious that we’re not where we want to be as we approach the first race, so we’ll just have do our best when we come back here and try to make the improvements quickly in the practice sessions. That’s it really. I’m still struggling with the bike moving quite a lot at the front and that’s caused by issues at rear. Because of this I’m also going too slowly through the corners. We have to stay positive and be glad that I’m going into this season fully fit, and we’ll keep working to improve things.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: 2010 WINTER TESTING ARE OVER. POSITIVE SENSATIONS FOR THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM The result of the last day of winter test in Qatar give good hopes to the Pramac Racing Team, in fact, the white and green riders concluded in ninth and eleventh position. Most experienced Mika Kallio made it to conclude two positions in front of his teammate. The Finn managed to improve his fastest lap recorded yesterday of almost half of a second. Espargarò instead managed to improve compared to yesterday by a second. Really good performance since this was only his second day on Losail circuit in the MotoGP category. Pramac Racing riders have now two weekend of break before the start of 2010 MotoGP World Championship in program on April 11th in Qatar. Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 9th best lap time in 1’56.767 “What an unusual thing happen: I remained without fuel at the very end of the session while I was going to the box; I was on the side of the track with my bike looking for someone to help me move the bike, instead I realized to be lonely in the desert. Luckily after some minutes the track assistants have arrived. Jokes apart, today we managed to improve, even not as much as we expected, the lap times recorded last year during the Grand Prix of Qatar qualification session. This means that we can be satisfied with the work done during these last days of winter testing. The team has worked well and thanks to my technicians we found a good set up of the bike that we will be using in the first GP of the season here in Doha.” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 11th best lap time in 1’56.897 “Yesterday night I haven’t slept very well. I wasn’t happy at all with lap times that I had registered yesterday. Today, however, I am pretty satisfied with how things went for me. On the contrary compared to the last Sepang test, we managed to constantly improve and this give us great confidence for the race that will be held here in Qatar in three weeks time. We have worked very well and for this I want to thanks all my technical staff.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has ended its final pre-season test session in positive spirits following a successful final night in Qatar. Loris Capirossi shook off the sickness he suffered yesterday to put in a strong performance and take fifth place on the night. He recorded a quickest time of 1’56.195 from his 58 laps of the Losail circuit and had no reoccurrence of the ailment that caused him to end the test early on Thursday evening. Capirossi did a thorough evaluation of the new spec higher durability GSV-R engine, as well as testing a new chassis and various other new specification parts. His valuable data will now be analysed back in Japan to prepare the bike for the first round of the season early next month. New-signing Alvaro Bautista made a huge improvement during the second part of the two-day night-test in Qatar by taking over a second off his previous night’s time. He covered the 5,380m lap of the Losail International Circuit a total of 71 times this evening and made advances to his performance and control on a MotoGP machine ahead of his race debut this coming April. Bautista’s best time from the session of 1’56.898 was good enough to give him 12th overall from the two-day test. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be back In Qatar in three weeks time for the first round of the MotoGP Championship, which will be held under floodlights on the night of Sunday 11th April. Loris Capirossi: “It has been quite positive today and we have improved quite a lot from Thursday. During yesterday’s test I was so bad that I was quite sick, but today I was nearly 100% and able to try many things on the bike. It is easy to see that we have improved here compared to last year. On the long run at the end I was not too happy because it was not so good, but the conditions were quite bad by then so I don’t really care about that. The track got very humid and I didn’t want to push too hard and risk crashing. In three weeks we are here again and I didn’t want to be injured for that. We hope that we will have a great opportunity this season because everyone is working really hard. I am so happy to still be with Rizla Suzuki and overall although we know we still need to improve a little bit we have done a good job so far this year.” Alvaro Bautista: “Today has been a lot more positive than yesterday, because on Thursday we had a lot of other things to do and never really got much done in the test. Today I could concentrate just on riding and during the first time out I felt more comfortable than at any time yesterday. I improved my lap-time by more than one second and also my riding was much better. We tried different settings for geometry and suspension, for both the front and rear of the bike and think that we have a good base set-up for the race already. At the end I tried to do a long run and did 15 laps, but after a full day riding I was a bit tired! I am happy because I am improving every time and I now know I am ready to race!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “The first night here in Qatar was really tough for a number of reasons, but we’re pleased to have taken a significant step forward with both of the guys tonight. Suzuki has been working very hard to improve the consistency of the bike and without question there has been some progress in that direction. That said, we have still got a lot of work to do to close the gap, but to end the test with Loris in the top six and Alvaro the fastest of last year’s 250cc riders is a good sign particularly as Qatar is a track that has never been too kind to us in the past!” Qatar Test Day Two Classification: 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’55.353: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.507: 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +0.526: 4. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +0.762: 5. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.842: 12. ALVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.545: Overall Classification: 1. Stoner 1’55.353: 2. Rossi +0.049: 3. Dovizioso +0.526: 4. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +0.601: 5. Hayden +0.762: 6. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.842: 12. ALVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.545: More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM END QATAR TEST WITH STONER ON TOP AND HAYDEN FOURTH The Ducati Marlboro Team concluded its preseason testing schedule this evening with both riders extremely satisfied with the set-up of their GP10 machines and their lap times. The second and final night of tests in Qatar saw Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden first and fourth on the time sheets despite both crashing in turn two, where several other riders also came unstuck. The next appointment for the Ducati Marlboro Team is back on the same track on 11th April for the opening race of the season, the Grand Prix of Qatar. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st 1’55.352 (51 laps) “I am really happy with the test and the work we have done right up to tonight. In the first Sepang test we had a few things to work out but we have made constant progress. The latest big step forward with the GP10 came last night and today I was able to set a consistently fast pace. I have been able to work with the tyres without putting too much stress on them and I was able to keep my pace on used rubber. I like the new engine a lot, it is more manageable and I am pleased to see the other Ducati riders, especially Nicky confirming that with fast times.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) 4th 1’56.116 (51 laps) “Today went better than yesterday, we took a step forward with the set-up and my lap time was decent. It is still taking us too long to get up to speed but there’s no doubt we’re making progress. Tonight I did my best time on a long run and I think I could have gone even faster on the next lap if it wasn’t for the crash in turn two. Anyway the bike is working well, the team has done a fantastic job and I can’t wait for the season to start now. I want to say a big thanks to all the guys at Ducati who are working so hard and giving me great support.” Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’55.153, 168.193 Km/h Best Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’53.927, 170.003 Km/h Today unofficial lap times 1. Stoner (Ducati) 1’55.352 (51 laps) 2. Rossi (Yamaha) 1’55.860 (57) 3. Dovizioso (Honda) 1’55.880 (66) 4. Hayden (Ducati) 1’56.116 (51) 5. Capirossi (Suzuki) 1’56.195 (58) 6. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’56.504 (44) 7. De Puniet (Honda) 1’56.505 (66) 8. Edwards (Yamaha)1’56.772 (48) 9. Kallio (Ducati) 1’56.767 (74) 10. Spies (Yamaha)1’56.780 (44) 11. Espargarò (Ducati) 1’56.897 (64) 12. Bautista (Suzuki) 1’56.898 (71) 13. Pedrosa (Honda)1’56.934 (56) 14. Melandri (Honda) 1’57.222 (64) 15. Barberà (Ducati)1’57.222 (74) 16. Aoyama (Honda) 1’57.251 (81) 17. Simoncelli (Honda) 1’57.379 (56) More, from a press release issued by Honda: MotoGP test Losail, Qatar. Final day of two day test session March 19, 2010. Weather: Warm early evening, increased humidity after 22.30. Temperature: Air 25 degrees, ground 29 degrees. Humidity: Maximum 63%. Dovizioso third fastest at final MotoGP pre-season test Losail Qatar The 2010 MotoGP teams and riders concluded pre-season testing with a six hour session under the flood lights of the 5.380km Losail grand prix circuit at Doha, Qatar, that ended at midnight tonight. With just four weeks remaining before the opening race of the 18 round World Championship, at Losail on April 11, achieving the best possible machine performance during this test was of paramount importance, in terms of race preparation and deciding the direction of future machine development. Establishing the optimum base line set up for the Losail track top tonight held additional significance as the MotoGP series tyre supplier Bridgestone, together with the teams and riders, will decide the technical specifications for the tyres allocated to each rider for the grand prix, on April 9-11. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda RC212V, has been the fastest Honda rider at the end of each pre-season test and tonight was no different. The Italian spent the day adjusting weight distribution and fine tuning the solid base line set up the team established yesterday. Dovizioso ran at an increasing fast and consistent pace until track conditions became too slick. He ended the day with third fastest lap time at 1m 55.879s, and third overall on combined time over the two days. He leaves Qatar in buoyant mood but knows he has serious development work to do if he is to further improve his RC212V. Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda RC212V, has been on the pace from the opening hour of the two day test and today spent the day fine tuning the improvements the LCR team made to the RCV yesterday. The took up where he ended yesterday immediately running at a fast smooth pace. The Frenchman concentrated a lot of his time to tyre testing and set his fastest lap time of the day on used race rubber. Dani Pedrosa spent much of the first day at Losail working with the new chassis, swinging arm and suspension configuration he believes will improve front end stability of his RCV on corner entry. The team started to improve feed-back from the front end in the early evening but as the humidity rose track conditions deteriorated to rob the riders of the grip level necessary to accurately assess chassis and suspension setting changes. San Carlo Honda Gresini riders, Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli, were unable to establish a clear direction for chassis and suspension set up on day one of the test. Both men improved machine set up today but both riders are aware that they have a lot more to achieve if they are to be competitive in the opening championship exchanges next month. Both riders crashed today, Simoncelli at turn one and Melandri at turn 8, neither man sustained injuries. Melandri worked on the geometry and weight distribution of his RCV and improved his feeling with the machine but was somewhat disappointed not to have improved still further. While his Rookie team mate, Simoncelli, worked on weight distribution and a comfortable riding position to accommodate his lanky physique. Simoncelli was quite pleased with his days work having reduced his lap times by half a second from his best on the opening day. Interwetten Honda RC212V rider, Hiro Aoyama, spent the first day of the test chasing grip, both front and rear. Today the team found solutions for improved front end stability and Aoyama was able to run consistent lap times half a second faster than his best time of yesterday. The Japanese star still has rear end grip issues to resolve before the race next month but he learns quickly and has the motivation necessary to succeed. The HRC race engineers will now analyse all the technical data gathered at the test and prepare to maximize the positive aspects of performance in time for grand prix practice on April 9. Honda rider quotes and lap times. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 3rd. 1m 55.879s – 66 laps. “I’m really satisfied with these two days of testing because we took another significant step forward. I’m pleased to have the third fastest time today because we improved both consistency and pace, which is a result of the hard work done by Honda and by my team. Today we focused on fine tuning the bike set -up and also the weight distribution. At the end of the session we wanted to do a race simulation but the track was too slippery because of the high humidity. Still, we have reduced the gap to Stoner and we are closer to Valentino as well. Of course we have to keep on working hard, but I’m happy to face the first round of the season with the machine package we have achieved so far.” Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 7th. 1m 56.504s 66 laps. ” I’m happy because I did my best lap time during the race simulation. We confirmed the good feeling with set up and I’m confident for the race. We did a step forward and I’m satisfied of these two days of testing. At the end I tried the soft tyre but some riders on track slowed me a little bit so I couldn’t improve the lap time. All in all I’m happy.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 13th. 1m 56.935s – 56 laps. “We started to make improvements early in tonight’s session, but after that we couldn’t make any more progress really and so of course I’m not satisfied with the results of this test. It’s obvious that we’re not where we want to be as we approach the first race, so we’ll just have do our best when we come back here and try to make the improvements quickly in the practice sessions. That’s it really. I’m still struggling with the bike moving quite a lot at the front and that’s caused by issues at rear. Because of this I’m also going too slowly through the corners. We have to stay positive and be glad that I’m going into this season fully fit, and we’ll keep working to improve things.” Marco Melandri, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 14th. 1m 57.605s – 54laps. “Today we worked on the geometry of the bike and the suspensions to improve my lap times. In fact the feeling with the bike is not bad but I am not able to be as fast as I wanted. We worked on weight distribution and tested different set up solutions to understand the direction but lap times are not coming. I struggled a lot a lot. At the end I tried to push but at turn 8 I put the tyre on the paint of the kerb and I crashed, fortunately without consequences.” Hiro Aoyama, Interwetten Honda: 16th. 1m 57.251s 81 laps. “Today we focused working on the set up with some positive feedback, we improved the feeling with the front but we still have to work to improve also the feeling with the rear and have more traction. We improved a bit and I’m confident as we are still learning. I’m very excited and motivated to race with this bike in less than three weeks on this circuit.” Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 17th. 1m 57.378s – 50 laps. “I’m quite confident because we improved a bit compared to the last Sepang test. Today we have tested different set up solutions and we have worked on my position on the bike and the weight distribution. I’m tall and I need to find the best position on the bike to ride as I like and to control it better. I’m confident to improve my feeling with the machine and consequently my lap times.” Practice times: Session 2. March 19, 2010. Pos / Rider / Team / Fastest lap / Prev. Gap / Lead. Gap / Laps 1 / Casey Stoner / Ducati Marlboro Team / 1:55.353 / – / – / 51 2 / Valentino Rossi / Fiat Yamaha Team / 1:55.860 / +0.507 / +0.507 / 57 3 / Andrea Dovizioso / Repsol Honda Team / 1:55.879 / +0.019 / +0.526 / 66 4 / Nicky Hayden / Ducati Marlboro Team / 1:56.115 / +0.236 / +0.762 / 51 5 / Loris Capirossi / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / 1:56.195 / +0.080 / +0.842 / 58 6 / Jorge Lorenzo / Fiat Yamaha Team / 1:56.504 / +0.309 / +1.151 / 44 7 / Randy De Puniet / LCR Honda MotoGP / 1:56.504 / – / +1.151 / 66 8 / Colin Edwards / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 1:56.722 / +0.218 / +1.369 / 48 9 / Mika Kallio / Pramac Racing Team / 1:56.767 / +0.045 / +1.414 / 74 10 / Ben Spies / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 1:56.779 / +0.012 / +1.426 / 44 11 / Aleix Espargaro / Pramac Racing Team / 1:56.897 / +0.118 / +1.544 / 64 12 / Alvaro Bautista / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / 1:56.898 / +0.001 / +1.545 / 71 13 / Dani Pedrosa / Repsol Honda Team / 1:56.935 / +0.037 / +1.582 / 56 14 / Marco Melandri / San Carlo Honda Gresini / 1:57.222 / +0.287 / +1.869 / 64 15 / Hector Barbera / Aspar Team / 1:57.223 / +0.001 / +1.870 / 74 16 / Hiroshi Aoyama / Interwetten-Honda MotoGP / 1:57.251 / +0.028 / +1.898 / 81 17 / Marco Simoncelli / San Carlo Honda Gresini / 1:57.379 / +0.128 / +2.026 / 56 Combined times: March 18 19. Pos / Rider / Team / Session 1 / Session 2 / Prev. Gap / Lead. Gap 1 / Casey Stoner / Ducati Marlboro Team / 1:55.717 / 1:55.353 / – / – 2 / Valentino Rossi / Fiat Yamaha Team / 1:55.402 / 1:55.860 / +0.049 / +0.049 3 / Andrea Dovizioso / Repsol Honda Team / 1:56.811 / 1:55.879 / +0.477 / +0.526 4 / Ben Spies / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 1:55.954 / 1:56.779 / +0.075 / +0.601 5 / Nicky Hayden / Ducati Marlboro Team / 1:56.855 / 1:56.115 / +0.161 / +0.762 6 / Loris Capirossi / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP /1:57.099 / 1:56.195 / +0.080 / +0.842 7 / Jorge Lorenzo / Fiat Yamaha Team / 1:56.838 / 1:56.504 / +0.309 / +1.151 8 / Randy De Puniet / LCR Honda MotoGP / 1:56.588 / 1:56.504 / – / +1.151 9 / Colin Edwards / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / 1:56.540 / 1:56.722 / +0.036 / +1.187 10 / Mika Kallio / Pramac Racing Team / 1:56.923 / 1:56.767 / +0.227 / +1.414 11 / Aleix Espargaro / Pramac Racing Team / 1:57.898 / 1:56.897 / +0.130 / +1.544 12 / Alvaro Bautista / Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / 1:57.960 / 1:56.898 / +0.001 / +1.545 13 / Dani Pedrosa / Repsol Honda Team / 1:57.047 / 1:56.935 / +0.037 / +1.582 14 / Marco Melandri / San Carlo Honda Gresini / 1:57.605 / 1:57.222 / +0.287 / +1.869 15 / Hector Barbera / Aspar Team / 1:57.822 / 1:57.223 / +0.001 / +1.870 16 / Hiroshi Aoyama / Interwetten-Honda MotoGP /1:57.888 / 1:57.251 / +0.028 / +1.898 17 / Marco Simoncelli / San Carlo Honda Gresini / 1:57.891 / 1:57.379 / +0.128 / +2.026 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone’s harder compound slicks favoured in Qatar test Losail, Qatar Pre-season test Thursday 18 Friday 19 March 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Extra Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard The final pre-season test concluded in Qatar tonight just three weeks before the Losail circuit hosts the opening round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship. Bridgestone brought the same slick tyre compounds to the test as will be used for the grand prix, which performed well in the unique challenges posed by a night race at a track located in the desert. The circuit was dirty at the start of the test as the surface was strewn with sand, and initially this caused some riders to experience slight graining. This occurs because the sand on the track makes the surface slippery yet abrasive. To tackle this issue Bridgestone supplied teams with the extra hard compound front slick tyre, and the hard compound rear tyre; both harder compounds than were available for last year’s Qatar Grand Prix. The track got cleaner throughout the test, but it was still the harder option front and rear tyres that were favoured for their extra durability and ability to cope with the circuit’s abrasive nature. Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner recorded the fastest lap of the test, 0.5seconds faster than his best race lap from last season, ahead of Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi. Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso finished third after two days of running. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “During the two days of testing in Qatar we saw good and fairly consistent conditions which allowed us and the teams to gain data on all of the available slick tyre specifications that we will bring to the Qatar GP. Both options of front and rear slick are working well, although almost all the riders preferred the harder options. The track conditions were much improved on the second day because of the cleaning effect of a day’s running, but we can see that the track was still not perfect: Casey’s fastest laptime was 0.1seconds slower than his qualifying time from last year, and even at the end of the test the harder option tyres were favoured for their extra durability as the track was still quite sandy and slippery. Many riders completed long runs though, and durability was good despite this so I am happy. “Again in Qatar we offered an experimental front tyre, though a different spec to the one we tested in Sepang. I would like to thank Valentino and the Fiat Yamaha Team for using this tyre in Qatar and providing some very important and valuable data that will not only help shape the future direction of our MotoGP tyre development, but also of our Battlax production tyres.” Overall times (combined fastest times from the two days) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m55.353s (Fri) 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m55.402s (Thu) +0.049s 3 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m55.879s (Fri) +0.526s 4 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m55.954s (Thu) +0.601s 5 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m56.115s (Fri) +0.762s 6 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m56.195s (Fri) +0.842s 7 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m56.504s (Fri) +1.151s 8 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m56.504s (Fri) +1.151s 9 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m56.540s (Thu) +1.187s 10 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 1m56.767s (Fri) +1.414s 11 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing 1m56.897s (Fri) +1.544s 12 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m56.898s (Fri) +1.545s 13 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m56.935s (Fri) +1.582s 14 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m57.222s (Fri) +1.869s 15 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1m57.223s (Fri) +1.870s 16 Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1m57.251s (Fri) +1.898s 17 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m57.379s (Fri) +2.026s Weather: Thu: Dry, Fri: Dry. Ambient 28-23°C; Track 33-25°C (Bridgestone measurement)