MotoGP warmup concludes Stoner clean sweep

The MotoGP warmup concluded the preparations for the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar on Sunday evening, and it barely needs mentioning that Casey Stoner was the top man in the session. The Australian completed a clean sweep of the four preparatory sessions with a 1’56.697 lap unmatched by any of his 800cc rivals, onboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP9.

The main favourite to deny a Stoner victory, Valentino Rossi was less than a tenth of a second slower than the Australian during the 20-minute run, and will start the race by his rival’s side on the front row.

Third quickest was Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso, who makes his debut for the team in Qatar, whilst Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards showed the suitability of the Yamaha M1 to the Losail International Circuit by placing in the top five.

A sore Nicky Hayden came back from a heavy qualifying hit to test the extent of his discomfort in the warmup, but came close to another incident when being passed by San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis. Also riding injured, Hayden’s former Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa twice ran off track during the session.