Stoner on top under lights

Winner of the last two MotoGP races at Losail in Qatar, including last year's historical first ever floodlit race, Australian Casey Stoner showed his strength around the 5.38km desert track again on Tuesday night.

The night time practice visit to Qatar, the second pre-season test for the 2009 MotoGP field, ended with Stoner setting the pace just as he did in the opening test of the year in Malaysia in February.

Stoner's best effort of 1:55.744 was recorded shortly after 9.00pm on the 22nd of his 31 turns under the floodlights, the Australian completing far fewer laps than any of his rivals.

The test saw him successfully debut a new carbon fibre swingarm on the Desmosedici GP9, though he was unable to undertake a race simulation and kept to short bursts on track as he rebuilds the strength in his left wrist, which was operated on over the winter.

Stoner crashed without consequence on Turn Two around 10 minutes after setting his best time, but was back out on track within an hour.

Last year's Qatar poleman Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), got closest to Stoner on the timesheet, though he was nearly a full second behind the Ducati rider, with his best time registered late in the evening.

Lorenzo's colleague Valentino Rossi completed the top three with a 1:56.972 effort as the only other rider to go round under the 57-second mark, the Italian satisfied with a new electronics system on the Yamaha M1.

The top five was rounded off by Queenslander Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), his best time arriving on the last of his 70 laps, and Stoner's new teammate for 2009, Nicky Hayden.

"It has been quite a tough test with the difficult conditions we have encountered," said Vermeulen. "We've had rain, wind and even a sandstorm. Day two started off well, but I lost a bit of track time when I slipped off.

"Today was the first time that we were able to do a long run and we found some issues that we were able to change so that was good. I'm quite happy with the test and the progress we have made so far this year; I am now looking forward to going to Jerez for the last test and then getting back here to start racing next month."

Also featuring in the top 10 were Vermeulen's Suzuki colleague Loris Capirossi, fastest Honda representative Randy de Puniet, factory Honda newcomer Andrea Dovizioso, the experienced Colin Edwards and San Carlo Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis.

The test also marked the return of Kawasaki into the MotoGP fold, where Marco Melandri wil be sole rider under the newly formed Hayate Racing Team banner.

As expected, Melandri was a little off the pace, but at least the former world 250 GP champion will now be on the grid in 2009 - unlike former Kawasaki incumbent John Hopkins

There were also crashes for Capirossi on Turn Six, Niccolo Canepa at Turn 13 and Yuki Takahasi at Turn Three, but all three riders were unhurt.

On rider who did leave Qatar with injuries was factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, who has undergone surgery to fit a screw in a fractured radius bone on his left arm, while his left knee also requires skin grafts. It's anticiapted he'll now be out of action for 3-4 weeks.

The next outing for the MotoGP riders is the official MotoGP Test at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain which takes place on March 28-29.

They will then return to Qatar for the first grand prix of the year on April 10-12.

Qatar night test, day three
1. Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro Team - 1'55.744 (31)
2. Jorge Lorenzo, Fiat Yamaha Team - 1'56.733 (82)
3. Valentino Rossi, Fiat Yamaha Team - 1'56.972 (75)
4. Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki MotoGP - 1'57.224 (70)
5. Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team - 1'57.225 (53)
6. Loris Capirossi, Suzuki MotoGP - 1'57.253 (42)
7. Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda MotoGP - 1'57.401 (77)
8. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda - 1'57.449 (74)
9. Colin Edwards, Monster Yamaha Tech3 - 1'57.515 (46)
10. Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini - 1'57.591 (61)
11. Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini - 1'57.804 (66)
12. Mika Kallio, Pramac Racing - 1'57.938 (54)
13. Niccolo Canepa, Pramac Racing - 1'57.946 (50)
14. Yuki Takahashi, Scot Racing Team - 1'58.412 (61)
15. James Toseland, Monster Yamaha Tech3 - 1'58.786 (51)
16. Marco Melandri, Hay ate Racing Team - 1'58.851 (73)