Stoner tops time sheets again

Is the 2011 MotoGP season going to be dominated by Repsol Hondas? Early testing in Malaysia saw Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa belt out the fastest times, and now one week before the first race of the 2011 season the final testing has once again seen the Spaniard and the Australian dominate proceedings.

The last official winter test was postponed in Qatar as a sandstorm tore through the area but when testing resumed the time sheets showed that two riders, Stoner and Pedrosa, broke into the 1min 55sec lap times.

Third fastest was Ben Spies on the Yamaha YZR-M1, while his team mate and world champion Jorge Lorenzo was a little off the pace, with the seventh fastest lap time. Italian-born rider Marco Simoncelli could be a force to be reckoned with in 2011, his new factory-backed Gresini Honda tracking well, while countryman Valentino Rossi was still languishing at the bottom of the time sheets in 13th place as he struggles with his injured shoulder. His Ducati team mate Nicky Hayden faired better, ninth fastest overall. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the time sheets.

Another rider whose fortunes (and skills) have improved is Randy de Puniet. The Frenchman was sixth fastest in testing, something the Pramac Racing Team will no doubt be proud of. De Puniet could be another dark horse like Simoncelli if he can string together a few strong results in 2011.

Stoner recorded the fastest time of 1'55.681 on his RC212V race bike, while Pedrosa wasn't far off the pace with a time of 1'55.745. "I'm really happy," beamed Stoner, "I didn't think we would get any laps in tonight judging from the weather earlier in the day. It was a little tough but the wind seemed to settle and the track conditions improved a lot and we got some good test time in tonight.

"We found a good rider position which I'm really happy with, having moved my position more towards the rear in Sepang to try and find more grip, here we can run a more neutral set-up and everything seems to be working well. We did some more work on electronics tonight and also on the tyres, but generally worked in preparation for the weekend," added Stoner.

Pedrosa was equally bemused by the sandstorm: "The conditions seemed very difficult when we arrived at the circuit today as it was so windy and on the way here the road was full of sand, but we managed to finally complete a good test." The Spaniard was upbeat, but was cautious about the first GP race of the season, which will take place in Qatar also: "We kept the good feeling we had at Sepang, the test here in Qatar also went well in general and we go to the first race with a competitive bike, but for the Grand Prix we will have to keep working hard because nobody will give away anything."

Ducati Team rider Valentino Rossi wasn't quite so ebullient, taking a tumble during the test session and is likely to struggle in the first half of the season - perhaps his last if he doesn't fully recover? 

"I’d say that today was pretty challenging," explained Rossi, "The weather conditions were much tougher than yesterday, and I had another crash when I slipped on a white line. Fortunately, I just fell over on the ground – it was nothing serious. The real problem was that at about an hour and a half from the finish, I started to lose strength in my shoulder, and I just couldn’t push anymore. It’s a shame, because I had just done my best time, and I may have been able to drop it a little more from there."

Time sheet (Final winter testing, Qatar, 2011

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