Stoner dominates first Qatar practice

The Ducati rider was unstoppable in the opening session at the floodlit Losail track. He hit the front from the start with an early 1m57.7s banker lap, and later improved to a 1m57.053s - putting him over a second clear of the field at the time.

Stoner's arch-rival Valentino Rossi soon started narrowing that gap, although even the Yamaha rider's best effort left him 0.386 seconds down on the Australian. But the duo were more evenly matched on longer runs, both lapping consistently in the mid-1m57s region.

Colin Edwards had a superb night for Tech 3 Yamaha, beating works Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo to third place.

Alex de Angelis was a surprise fifth on the satellite-specification Gresini Honda. His team-mate Toni Elias's factory-standard bike was back in 12th, 0.6s slower.

Suzuki's strong form continued as Loris Capirossi burst into the top six on his final run, although this team also saw a big gap between its riders, with Chris Vermeulen only 14th.

Pramac Racing's rookie Finn Mika Kallio maintained his position amongst the frontrunners having impressed greatly in the final pre-season test at Jerez. The 250cc graduate lurked around the top eight throughout the 45-minute session, ending the night in seventh place and as comfortably the best rookie.

Andrea Dovizioso kept the beleaguered works Honda team in the top three at first, but was later pushed back to eighth. His injured team-mate Dani Pedrosa was slowest of all as he took to the track for the first time since his massive testing accident a month ago.

Marco Melandri gave the Hayate Racing squad some encouragement with a very promising ninth place on his Kawasaki, ahead of LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet.

Further back, Nicky Hayden remained off the pace on the second works Ducati and was only 13th, while Sete Gibernau (Francisco Hernando Ducati) began his comeback with 16th position.

Pos  Rider             Bike      Time
 1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    1m57.053s
 2.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    1m57.439s  + 0.386s
 3.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    1m57.835s  + 0.782s
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    1m58.272s  + 1.219s
 5.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     1m58.452s  + 1.399s
 6.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    1m58.468s  + 1.415s
 7.  Mika Kallio       Ducati    1m58.499s  + 1.446s
 8.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     1m58.506s  + 1.453s
 9.  Marco Melandri    Kawasaki  1m58.757s  + 1.704s
10.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     1m58.771s  + 1.718s
11.  James Toseland    Yamaha    1m58.850s  + 1.797s
12.  Toni Elias        Honda     1m59.094s  + 2.041s
13.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati    1m59.158s  + 2.105s
14.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    1m59.348s  + 2.295s
15.  Yuki Takahashi    Honda     1m59.437s  + 2.384s
16.  Sete Gibernau     Ducati    2m00.595s  + 3.542s
17.  Niccolo Canepa    Ducati    2m00.597s  + 3.544s
18.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     2m01.435s  + 4.382s