Ducati did nothing but pick up from where they ended the 2009 season, as the team dominated the last 3 grands prix during the last MotoGP campaign through resurrected rider Casey Stoner. After sitting out of the MotoGP action for 3 races due to a strange illness, the Australian won 2 races and scored pole position for the season finale at Valencia. Only a cold tire in the formation lap prevented him from making it 3 in a row, as he eventually crashed out of the race before it even started.
Forgetting all about the 2009 season and looking towards the upcoming campaign, Stoner yesterday set the best time of 1:32.660, slightly better than the Fiat Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. The Spaniard finished the session 0.025 seconds behind Stoner, while Rossi completed the podium some 0.166 seconds slower that the Ducati rider.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa came in a distant 4th place, almost half of second behind Stoner, while 5th place was taken by American rider Nicky Hayden. After a year of riding Italian machineries, the Kentucky Kid finally got the grips with his new Ducati and completed the Top 5 almost 7 tenths of the second behind his teammate.
Newcomer Ben Spies scored the 6th best time of the day, ahead of Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, Pramac Racing's Mika Kallio, LCR's Randy de Puniet and Honda Gresini's Marco Melandri. The MotoGP newcomers all recorded some modest lap times – apart from Spies – as Aleix Espargaro settled for 11th overall, while Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera and Hiroshi Aoyama completed the pack from 14th to 17th respectively.
Google News