Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Stoner quickest in Valencia test

Stoner quickest in Valencia test

Casey Stoner set the fastest time on the first day of the post-season MotoGP test at Valencia today.

The Ducati rider's best effort was a tenth of a second quicker than his fastest lap in Sunday's race, while Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi set the next quickest times in a repeat of the top three from the weekend's Grand Prix. Although Rossi only joined in for the last two hours of the day.

The Suzuki's of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi were fourth and fifth quickest, ahead of Alex de Angelis on the Gresini Honda and Jorge Lorenzo's factory Yamaha.

But the spotlight today was on the riders having their first tests for new teams. Several riders switched to their new homes today as Nicky Hayden moved to Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso took his place at Repsol Honda, Marco Melandri switched to Kawasaki, and Toni Elias moved back to Gresini Honda..

Other riders also joined the series today, with Sete Gibernau making his MotoGP return on the Onde Ducati, 250cc graduates Mika Kallio and Yuki Takahashi in action for Alice Ducati and JiR Team Scot Honda, and Niccolo Canepa alongside Kallio at Alice.

Dovizioso was quickest of those to change bikes since Sunday's race, setting the eighth fastest time 1.2 seconds adrift of Stoner's benchmark.

Melandri was inside the top ten and just 0.022s slower than new Kawasaki teammate John Hopkins, while Hayden was 12th for Ducati and 1.5s behind Stoner as he concentrated on acclimatising himself with the new machine.

Lorenzo continued his troubled time at Valencia with a crash during the afternoon, but was unhurt.

The test was also the first run on Bridgestone tyres for all the riders that raced with Michelin this year, on MotoGP's first day as a single-tyre championship. The test will conclude tomorrow.

Pos Rider Team Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1:32.464 2. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1:32.672 3. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1:32.921 4. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:33.142 5. Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:33.325 6. Alex De Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:33.375 7. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1:33.550 8. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 1:33.676 9. John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1:33.760 10. Marco Melandri Kawasaki Racing Team 1:33.782 11. Randy De Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1:33.832 12. Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 1:33.960 13. Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:34.129 14. Sete Gibernau Onde 2000 Ducati 1:34.451 15. Mika Kallio Alice Team 1:34.793 16. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki Racing Team 1:34.925 17. Niccolo Canepa Alice Team 1:34.995 18. Yuki Takahashi JiR Team Scot Honda 1:35.203

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