Stoner sets the early MotoGP pace in Qatar

2012-04-05 18:57
The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship got underway at Losail on Thursday with the first practice session of the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, and immediately into the groove was reigning World Champion Casey Stoner. His best lap of the session - a 1'56.474 - headed the opening 45-minute run of the weekend as the new 1000cc machines made their first outing of the season.

The Australian did not have it all his own way however as the leading spot changed hands a few times in the closing minutes of the session, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) being one rider who led before settling in second at just 0.174s off Stoner with a 1'56.648.

Making it three different bikes in the top three Nicky Hayden rode his factory Ducati to a best time of 1'56.924, whilst Ben Spies on the second Yamaha Factory Racing machine was fourth and the final rider under 1'57”.

Dani Pedrosa (Respol Honda) was just under seven-tenths of a second off his team-mate Stoner as the Spaniard ended the session fifth, and Cal Crutchlow put in an impressive showing on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to secure the highest satellite position of sixth in a time of 1'57.395. The Brit was also the final rider to get inside a second off Stoner's benchmark.

Álvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Andrea Dovizioso (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Héctor Barberá (Pramac Racing), all riding for new teams in 2012, and Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) completed the top ten. The Italian was fractionally under a second off his team-mate Hayden.

Rookie Stefan Bradl, the 2011 Moto2 World Champion, finished his first MotoGP session in 12th place as he began setting up his LCR Honda RC213V machine for Sunday's race, and the debut of the CRTs witnessed Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar) lead the pack as he timed in 13th quickest with a lap of 1'59.985 on his Aprilia.

Colin Edwards was just 0.059s off the Frenchman on the Suter-BMW machine of the NGM Mobile Forward Racing team, with Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Aleix Espargaró (Power Electronics Aspar) close on De Puniet's trail as the new CRT machines laid down their first World Championship practice session laps.

The MotoGP class returns to the track on Friday for its second and third practices, but the Moto2™ and Moto3™ classes both ran two sessions on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday MotoGP riders Crutchlow and Barberá were joined by Moto3 youngster Viñales and Moto2 wildcard Nasser Al Malki as the quartet took part in the official pre-event. Embarking the 'Magnifico', the riders took in the Doha skyline and had a tour of the luxury vessel, before posing for photographs and discussing their expectations for the weekend.


Moto2™

In Moto2™ Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock) topped both practices and posted a best time of 2'00.767 in the second, to get his weekend off to a strong start.

Lüthi led a top three which included Claudio Corti (Italtrans Racing Team) and Pol Espargaró (Pons 40 HP Tuenti), with the Italian also getting under 2'01” in a best time of 2'00.918. Espargaró and team-mate Esteve Rabat, who was fourth fastest, were the last riders to lap within 0.5s of Lüthi.

Marc VDS Racing Team riders Scott Redding and Mika Kallio were separated by just 0.024s in fifth and sixth positions respectively, with 2011 Championship runner-up Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) seventh.

Mike di Meglio (S/Master Speed Up), Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team) and former Moto2 World Champion Toni Elías (Mapfre Aspar Team) completed the top 10 with Japanese rider Nakagami just under a second off Lüthi.


Moto3™

The new Moto3™ category debuted on day one at Losail as a new era in the World Championship began, and it was last year's 125cc Rookie of the Year Maverick Viñales (Blusens Avintia) who was the leading rider in both sessions.

Viñales topped the second practice session – in which all riders set their best time – with a time of 2'08.160, which left him 0.498s clear of second place, as the talented young Spaniard set a scorching marker for the rest of the field.

Malaysian rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Airasia-SIC-Ajo) led the charge behind Viñales with a time of 2'08.658, with Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Danny Kent putting a problematic first session behind him in which he had technical issues to time in third quickest at 2'08.967.

Miguel Oliveira (Estrella Galicia 0'0) was the last rider under 2'09” with an effort of 2'08.979, and his rookie team-mate Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0'0) rounded off an impressive day by placing fifth in the order. With his time of 2'09.107 Rins was the last rider to get within a second of leader Viñales.

Sandro Cortese (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Alberto Moncayo (Bankia Aspar Team), Louis Rossi (Racing Team Germany), Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar Team) and Niccolò Antonelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Moto3) completed the top 10 on a day on which the Moto3 class made its World Championship bow.

The action resumes at 6pm local time on Friday, when the MotoGP riders head out on track for the second practice session. All categories will then complete their third and final practice, before qualifying commences on Saturday.

Source: MotoGP

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