Stoner dominates Qatar night test
Casey Stoner led the way during MotoGP's inaugural night test in Qatar last night, heading the field by a comfortable seven tenths of a second.
The reigning champion, who won at the track last year, was fastest from early on in the session and was never headed.
In the end, his nearest challenger was Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, who steadily improved throughout the evening to set his best time in the final hour of running.
Team LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet was third fastest, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Briton James Toseland on the Tech 3 Yamaha. Alex de Angelis rounded off the top six.
The recovering John Hopkins and Dani Pedrosa completed a full day's running to set the seventh and eighth best times, showing they were well on their way to putting their testing injuries behind them.
The only rider to fall during the day was Kawasaki's Anthony West, who escaped injury in his fall but ended the day at the bottom of the timesheets.
Speaking about the incident, the Australian said: "The bike felt really good and I started pushing a bit hard, which caused me to crash. I lost the front at the last corner and I'm a bit bruised, but no major problems."
Thursday's testing times:
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:55.330
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1:56.019 + 0.689
3. Randy De Puniet Honda 1:56.062 + 0.732
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1:56.121 + 0.791
5. James Toseland Yamaha 1:56.251 + 0.921
6. Alex de Angelis Honda 1:56.571 + 1.241
7. John Hopkins Kawasaki 1:56.614 + 1.284
8. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:56.621 + 1.291
9. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:56.749 + 1.419
10. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:56.762 + 1.432
11. Toni Elias Ducati 1:57.007 + 1.677
12. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:57.010 + 1.680
13. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:57.223 + 1.893
14. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:57.522 + 2.192
15. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1:57.551 + 2.221
16. Marco Melandri Ducati 1:57.593 + 2.263
17. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 1:57.644 + 2.314
18. Anthony West Kawasaki 1:57.787 + 2.457
Μερικες φωτο του τι θα δουμε στον αγωνα που ετοιμαζεται by night!