The Australian rider ended the Monday night running at the Losail International Circuit some 0.143 seconds slower than teammate Dani Pedrosa, but overall he was the rider to maintain the highest pace from all MotoGP contenders, as he dropped under 1:57 seconds no less than 12 times (as compared to Pedrosa's 2 laps under that barrier).
In addition, Stoner also experienced several seating positions with his new bike, as the version tested in Qatar's first day of testing will be the RCV he'll take to the season opening round this upcoming weekend.
“Everything has gone well with the bike and in general we don't have a whole lot to test here, we're just trying to get more out of the balance of the bike - both bikes have the same chassis but we tried very different riding positions,” said Stoner at the end of Day 1 in Qatar.
“It seems to be more difficult to get a decent lap time on the harder tyres, having made my fastest time on an older soft tyre, but our consistency seems to be very good also with the hardest compound. We've been trying to get a little bit more grip and turning out of the bike and work on set-up for this circuit, focusing on race set-up.”
Action will resume at the Losail track tomorrow night for the last day of testing this off-season. However, Stoner wanted to sent a warm message to the people of Japan following the tragic events that have hit the country in recent days.
“I'm just pleased the team reached here safely and there were no casualties back in the HRC Headquarters in Saitama, my thoughts are with all the people in Japan,” he concluded.
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