Stoner finishes Qatar test on top

Added on Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor

It was another strong day for Repsol Honda as Casey Stoner led the time sheets on the second and final day of the Qatar pre-season test.

The Australian rider, who has a strong record at the Losail International Circuit, posted a time of 1:55.681 on day two to lead teammate Dani Pedrosa by just 0.064seconds.

The Honda teammates dominated the session, leaving third placed Ben Spies trailing Stoner by more than six tenths of a second under the floodlights.

Marco Simoncelli continued his and Gresini Honda’s good form with a fourth place finish, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Randy de Puniet, who completed the top six. World Champion Jorge Lorenzo was seventh fastest.

Ducati’s Valentino Rossi has another frustrating day, finishing 1.307 seconds off the pace following a crash at turn seven

Pos	Rider	Team	Time	Laps
1	Casey Stoner	Repsol Honda	1:55.681	46
2	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda	+ 0.064	39
3	Ben Spies	Yamaha Racing	+ 0.613	45
4	Marco Simoncelli	San Carlo Honda Gresini	+ 0.752	70
5	Andrea Dovizioso	Repsol Honda	+ 0.758	58
6	Randy de Puniet	Pramac Ducati	+ 0.764	67
7	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha Racing	+ 1.026	48
8	Colin Edwards	Monster Tech 3 Yamaha	+ 1.035	57
9	Nicky Hayden	Ducati	+ 1.045	68
10	Hiroshi Aoyama	San Carlo Honda Gresini	+ 1.059	73
11	Hector Barbera	Aspar Ducati	+ 1.117	62
12	Alvaro Bautista	Rizla Suzuki	+ 1.250	63
13	Valentino Rossi	Ducati	+ 1.307	50
14	Loris Capirossi	Pramac Ducati	+ 1.664	52
15	Cal Crutchlow	Monster Tech 3 Yamaha	+ 2.049	28
16	Karel Abraham	Cardion AB Ducati	+ 2.165	49
17	Toni Elias	LCR Honda	+ 2.855	57