Stoner happy with Ducati progress in Qatar

Added on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor

Stoner ended the weekend with the fastest lap time overall.

I am really happy with the test and the work we have done

Casey Stoner claimed that Ducati had taken a major leap forward on the second day of testing in Qatar this weekend as he finally managed to remove Valentino Rossi from the top of the time sheet.

The Australian posted a fastest time of 1:55.353 from his 51 laps, some half a second faster than Rossi, who completed 57, to finish the two day session on top of the combined time charts.

Teammate Nicky Hayden also impressed, posting the fourth fastest time of a session which saw many of Stoner’s title rivals, including Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, struggle to find a competitive pace.

It will have been as much as a relief to Stoner than anything else, who has an impeccable record at Losail, and the 2007 world champion was happy with how he and Ducati had progressed in the final pre-season testing session of the season.

“I am really happy with the test and the work we have done right up to [Saturday],” he said. “In the first Sepang test we had a few things to work out but we have made constant progress. The latest big step forward with the GP10 came [on Friday] and [Saturday] I was able to set a consistently fast pace.

“I have been able to work with the tyres without putting too much stress on them and I was able to keep my pace on used rubber. I like the new engine a lot, it is more manageable and I am pleased to see the other Ducati riders, especially Nicky confirming that with fast times.”

Qatar Test, Day Two times:

Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Casey Stoner	AUS	Ducati Marlboro	1:55.353
2	Valentino Rossi	ITA	Fiat Yamaha	+0.507
3	Andrea Dovizioso	ITA	Repsol Honda	+0.526
4	Nicky Hayden	USA	Ducati Marlboro	+0.762
5	Loris Capirossi	ITA	Rizla Suzuki	+0.842
6	Jorge Lorenzo	SPA	Fiat Yamaha	+1.151
7	Randy De Puniet	FRA	LCR Honda	+1.151
8	Colin Edwards	USA	Monster Tech 3 Yamaha	+1.369
9	Mika Kallio	FIN	Pramac Ducati	+1.414
10	Ben Spies	USA	Monster Tech 3 Yamaha	+1.426
11	Aleix Espargaro	SPA	Pramac Ducati	+1.544
12	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Rizla Suzuki	+1.545
13	Dani Pedrosa	SPA	Repsol Honda	+1.582
14	Marco Melandri	ITA	San Carlo Gresini Honda	+1.869
15	Hector Barbera	SPA	Aspar Ducati	+1.870
16	Hiroshi Aoyama	JAP	Interwetten Honda	+1.898
17	Marco Simoncelli	ITA	San Carlo Gresini Honda	+2.026