Stoner goes fastest at Jerez
MotoGP champion Casey Stoner led the way on the opening day of the final test of the year at Jerez in Spain on Tuesday as he began work on his 2008 bike
The Australian, whose Ducati team skipped the recent Sepang test, put in his first laps with the new GP8 bike that he will use next season to defend his title.
But his day was not as smooth as he had hoped, as he was the only rider to fall - coming off his bike at the Alex Criville corner.
"This first day with the GP8 was really positive for us. I immediately felt at home on the bike because it's pretty similar to what we rode last season," said Stoner.
"Today we were quite a bit faster than we were when we raced here back in March, which is very important because we have improved at a track that used to be a bit difficult for us. We found a very good set-up which could also be good at other circuits.
"We used 2007 spec tyres today, tomorrow we will start with Bridgestone's new tyres. The only bad moment of the day was the crash, but these things can happen. I'm okay though, so everything is fine."
Behind him, Spain's Dani Pedrosa continued Repsol Honda's 2008 preparations to end the day just more than one tenth of a second adrift of Stoner.
Most of the attention over the day was on Valentino Rossi, though, who returned to action for the first time since the season finale at Valencia. His running was followed closely as he evaluated Bridgestone tyres for the first time.
And he will certainly have been encouraged by his opening experience, as he ended the day third quickest overall - less than three tenths of a second slower than Stoner, and crucially seven tenths up on his Michelin-shod Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
Colin Edwards delivered an encouraging performance for the Tech 3 Yamaha squad, ended the day fourth overall, ahead of former champion Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda and Alex de Angelis on the Honda Gresini.
World Superbike Champion James Toseland ended the day 11th fastest, 1.5 seconds adrift of Stoner's pace.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps 1. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro 1:40.221 35 2. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1:40.355 60 3. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 1:40.514 56 4. Colin Edwards Tech3 Yamaha 1:40.790 47 5. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda 1:40.923 63 6. Alex de Angelis Honda Gresini 1:41.111 58 7. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 1:41.230 90 8. Shinya Nakano Honda Gresini 1:41.277 65 9. Randy de Puniet Honda LCR 1:41.313 79 10. John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing 1:41.414 49 11. James Toseland Tech3 Yamaha 1:41.776 69 12. Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro 1:41.889 62 13. Andrea Dovizioso JiR Scot 1:42.033 60 14. Niccolo Canepa Ducati Marlboro 1:42.666 67 15. Taddy Okada Repsol HRC 1:43.051 42 16. Anthony West Kawasaki Racing 1:43.576 73 17. Shinichi Ito Bridgestone Team 1:44.530 56 18. Vittoriano Guareschi Ducati Marlboro 1:44.588 51
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