MotoGP: 2010 Qatar Test Results

The Ducati Marlboro rider recorded a time of 1:55.353 on the second day of testing under the lights at the Losail International Circuit. Stoners time was a hair under Valentino Rossis best time, 1:55.402, set in the first night of testing. The two riders finished in reverse order on the first night of testing, showing why they are considered early favorites for the 2010 championship.

Not long after setting his fastest lap, Stoner crashed at Turn 2, the same area his teammate Nicky Hayden and the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team of Colin Edwards and Ben Spies each crashed during the session.

Spies was third fastest in the first session, just ahead of Edwards, but neither rider was able to improve on the second night, finishing tenth and eighth, respectively.

Jorge Lorenzo, who finished runner-up to his Fiat Yamaha teammate Rossi in the 2009 title hunt, was over a second off Stoners pace despite a broken thumb.

Repsol Honda s Andrea Dovizioso appeared to be over the fever that kept him out of the teams official presentation earlier in the week, setting the third fastest lap on the second session and fifth the night before. Dovizioso was faster than his teammate Dani Pedrosa on both nights as Pedrosa only barely squeezed under the 1:57 mark in the second session. Pedrosa was slower than satellite LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet on both nights.

Hayden shaved more than half a second off his fastest lap on the second night, setting the fourth fastest time in the second session.

Rizla Suzuki riders Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista both showed improvement the second night. The veteran Capirossi was fifth fastest on the second night at 1:56.195 while the rookie Bautista cut more than a second off his fastest lap.

The two new teams in the series, Aspar Ducati and Interwetten-Honda were near the bottom of the time sheet on both nights. Aspar Ducatis Hector Barbera edged out Interwetten-Hondas Hiroshi Aoyama on both nights but both rookies remain nearly two seconds off of Stoners pace.

Riders and teams will have three weeks to prepare before the season kicks off for real under the lights in Qatar on April 11.