STONER INSIDE LAP RECORD WITHIN FIRST HOUR OF HISTORIC QATAR NIGHT TEST
. By Bikeland Staff
MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner needed just 45 minutes to find his bearings around the floodlit circuit of Losail in Qatar, with almost five and a half million watts lighting up the first official test session at 1800h local time, following a spectacular opening ceremony. Within an hour Stoner had clocked a stunning lap of 1'55.368, inside the current lap record and almost three seconds clear of his nearest rival.
The test didn't finish until 0100h in the morning but both Ducati Marlboro Team riders were in positive mood. Track temperatures at 2000h were around 18°C.
CASEY STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team
"The first impression is like playing on the videogame "Need for Speed"! It's definitely a lot different to what we're used to. It's not better or worse, just different. The most interesting thing is that with lower visibility, at least with regard to the imperfections on the track, you have to have more confidence than your instinct tells you to have. It's not a bad start though."
MARCO MELANDRI, Ducati Marlboro Team
"At the start it's quite difficult but then little by little you get used to the visibility, which is good but very different to daylight. They've done a great job and in my view there are only a couple of areas, between turns 5 to 9 and turn 14, which could be improved. Grip is good, it's just the wind that's a problem."
Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati - 2007), 1'56.528, 166.208 km/h
Best Pole: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha - 2007), 1'55.002
Lap times at 21:00 local time, 3 hours into the test:
1. Casey STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1:55.368
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1:56.442
3. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 1:56.649
4. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 1:56.860
5. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:57.018
6. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 1:57.038
7. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 1:57.100
8. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1:57.210
9. Shinya NAKANO (Honda) 1:57.837
10. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki)1:57.872
11. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki) 1:57.900
12. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda) 1:58.208
13. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki) 1:58.226
14. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:58.318
15. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1:58.530
16. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 1:58.570
17. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1:58.629
18. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati) 1:58.847