The former Kawasaki backer was left in the lurch after the withdrawl of the green team in December, but will continue its involvement in MotoGP with the satelite Yamaha team.
For Poncheral's privateer team it is a welcome boost following recent years of limited budget, but podiums for Colin Edwards last season and a strong test so far for him in Qatar stand the paddock's most experienced team in good stead.
The Spaniard - who had already sat out the final day of the previous test in Malaysia due to knee pain - crashed at Turn 10 on his 29th lap of the evening and had to be taken to the medical centre on a stretcher.
Although no broken bones were found, he required stitching on his left knee, where a wound from surgery over the winter (required following his crash at Phillip Island last year) had reopened.
Pedrosa also sustained severe contusions to his left wrist, which had previously been broken in an accident in Germany last summer.
A team statement confirmed that he would undergo further checks in Barcelona, but that he should be fit for the next test at Jerez at the end of March.
Pedrosa admitted that the accident had taken him by surprise.
"The conditions weren't ideal with the sand blowing on the track, but this was an unexpected crash," he said. "I was entering Turn 10 and I had a high-side and then the bike came down on top of me.
"It's a shame because we also lost testing time yesterday, but now I will go home for some more scans and hopefully they won't show anything more serious."
Pedrosa had already sat out the first day of the Qatar test due to the poor weather conditions, and coupled with his Sepang difficulties, his latest accident means he will only have managed two and a half days of running before Jerez compared to the six days that many of his rivals have enjoyed.
The former world champion had been extremely concerned when he continued to suffer wrist pain in the previous test at Sepang, having hoped that surgery in November would have completely cured the physical problems that marred the second half of his 2008 season.
After Sepang, Stoner said that there would be "plenty to worry about" if his wrist remained an issue when testing resumed at Losail this week, but he was much happier following last night's session.
"We have worked well and we've made progress with the set-up of the GP9 so it has been a positive day despite the difficult track conditions," he said.
"Pretty much the same goes for the wrist - it's obviously still not 100 percent yet but it is better than Malaysia and better than I was expecting for this test, so it's looking hopeful from that point of view too.
"In general I am satisfied."
Stoner was fastest by 0.6 seconds on his Ducati last night, ahead of reigning champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha).
The Honda rider reported pain from his left knee and left hand after the accident during this evening's floodlit test at the Qatar Grand Prix track, although initial reports suggest that he has escaped without any broken bones.
Pedrosa had previously hurt both the knee and hand in accidents during the 2008 season. A violent crash while leading in the wet at the Sachsenring left him with a broken hand that badly affected his campaign, while he had required winter surgery on his knee following an accident at Phillip Island.
Discomfort from his knee had previously caused the Spaniard to pull out of the final day of last month's Sepang test. Pedrosa had already sat out the first day of the Losail test due to the poor weather conditions.
He will fly back from Qatar to Barcelona tomorrow for further medical checks to confirm the extent of his latest injuries.
After most of Sunday night's session was lost to a surprise rainstorm, the penultimate winter test got underway in earnest this evening in cool and dry conditions.
Reigning champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) led the way for the first half of the night before Stoner produced a 1:57.139 on his Ducati to beat the Italian by 0.6 seconds. But as had been the case in Malaysia last month, Stoner limited himself to around six laps at a time while building up strength in his wrist following last year's recurrent injury and subsequent operation.
The main incident of the night was the accident that ended Dani Pedrosa's participation in the test. The Honda rider hurt his left knee and hand - both of which had required surgery after crashes in 2008 - when he went off at Turn 10 four hours into the session.
Colin Edwards completed the top three in an impressive performance on the Tech 3 Yamaha, ahead of Pedrosa's teammate Andrea Dovizioso.
The two Suzukis were fifth and sixth, with Chris Vermeulen slightly quicker than Loris Capirossi despite a minor accident early on.
Pramac Ducati's Mika Kallio was the other rider to have a fall and was back in 16th, only beating Tech 3's James Toseland, who had himself crashed heavily in the previous test at Sepang.
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) continued to struggle slightly with the transition to Bridgestone tyres in seventh place, while Sunday pace-setter Nicky Hayden fell to ninth for Ducati, behind Gresini Honda's Alex de Angelis.
Pos Rider Bike Time Laps 1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:57.139 37 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:57.747 51 3. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:57.817 41 4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1:57.879 60 5. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:58.018 24 6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1:58.264 42 7. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1:58.400 63 8. Alex de Angelis Honda 1:58.441 53 9. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1:58.577 54 10. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:58.619 28 11. Randy De Puniet Honda 1:58.936 55 12. Toni Elias Honda 1:59.036 56 13. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:59.153 65 14. Marco Melandri Kawasaki 1:59.195 63 15. Niccolo Canepa Ducati 1:59.266 36 16. Mika Kallio Ducati 1:59.764 48 17. James Toseland Yamaha 2:00.234 51Strong winds in recent days meant the Losail track was already extremely dusty when the floodlit evening test began, and then a downpour struck an hour into the session.
The track took a long time to dry in the cool conditions, although by the final hour the surface had improved enough to allow several riders to set quicker times.
Hayden, who has so far struggled to get to grips with the Ducati, jumped to the head of the field with a lap of 2:00.717, putting him 0.150 seconds clear of Marco Melandri, as the Hayate Racing-run 2009 Kawasaki made an encouraging debut, just two days after the team's future was secured.
Pramac Ducati duo Mika Kallio and Niccolo Canepa were third and fifth, sandwiching Gresini Honda's Alex de Angelis, while Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) eventually fell to sixth having been fastest of all prior to the rain.
But the results could not be taken as representative given that all the 2009 title favourites decided there was no point running in the conditions.
Both works Yamahas, Ducati's Casey Stoner and Honda's Dani Pedrosa - the quartet generally tipped to fight for this year's championship - opted out of the evening, as did Suzuki's Loris Capirossi, who had been a consistent top three contender in the previous test at Sepang.
The test is scheduled to continue for a further two nights.
Pos Rider Bike Time Laps 1. Nicky Hayden Ducati 2:00.717 29 2. Marco Melandri Kawasaki 2:00.867 31 3. Mika Kallio Ducati 2:01.020 27 4. Alex de Angelis Honda 2:01.074 15 5. Niccolo Canepa Ducati 2:01.328 21 6. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 2:01.843 5 7. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:03.221 18 8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 2:03.233 15 9. James Toseland Yamaha 2:03.417 6 10. Randy De Puniet Honda 2:03.580 14 11. Colin Edwards Yamaha 2:03.652 5 12. Toni Elias Honda 2:08.637 3 13. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2:24.832 1 14. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 0 15. Dani Pedrosa Honda 0 16. Casey Stoner Ducati 0 17. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 0Few ventured out early in the session as strong winds had brought a great deal of dust onto the circuit, and then a rainstorm prevented any further meaningful running until the closing stages.
Although some riders managed to set quicker times late in the evening, the Yamaha team chose to stay in their garages.
Rossi said the weather had been a particular blow given that he had struggled for pace in Qatar in 2008.
"Five minutes of rain really gave us a lot of problems today," said the world champion.
"First we waited and then finally we decided to abandon it. I hope tomorrow it's back to normal because this was our worst race last year and we need the time to see where we are and continue to improve with our new package."
His teammate Jorge Lorenzo had also been desperate for the Losail track time, having had difficulty with the 2009 Yamaha in the previous test in Malaysia.
"I went out and on the third lap it started to rain - I couldn't believe it," said Lorenzo.
"It seems strange to have rain in the desert and it's been a nightmare for the team because we have lost a whole day.
"I hope it's better tomorrow because I really want to try the new electronic system and also I need to keep working to improve with the Bridgestone tyres."
