Edwards keeps Yamaha on top
Colin Edwards maintained Yamaha's impressive pre-season testing form as he and teammate Valentino Rossi led the way on the first day of this week's Qatar test
The American set his best lap of 1:56.774 during the afternoon session, with MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden having been quickest in the morning on his Repsol Honda.
It was clear evidence that Yamaha's 800cc M1 is well sorted ahead of the new season, which starts at the Losail circuit next month.
Ducati's Casey Stoner put in his best pre-season form to set the third quickest time, although some of his laps from the morning had not registered due to transponder problems.
American Kenny Roberts caused a minor surprise with the fourth quickest time, ahead of Hayden, who spent the day focusing on tyre work surrounding Michelin's new 16-inch front wheel.
John Hopkins delivered a morale-boosting sixth quickest time for Rizla Suzuki, which should serve to erase the disappointment of the last test at Phillip Island, where his team struggled for pace.
Briton Jeremy McWilliams managed to complete his first day back on a MotoGP bike without incident, as he got reacquainted with his Ilmor GP machine for the first time since his crash in Jerez testing.
He was slowest overall with a time of 2:10.341, just less than nine seconds adrift of teammate Andrew Pitt.
Kawasaki's Oliver Jacque was taken to hospital for observation after banging his head in a crash at Turn Two.
Today's times:
Pos Rider Team Time 1. Colin Edwards Yamaha Factory 1:56.774 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha Factory 1:56.891 3. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro 1:56.960 4. Kenny Roberts Jr Team Roberts 1:57.064 5. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda 1:57.070 6. John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki 1:57.350 7. Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro 1:57.360 8. Carlos Checa Honda LCR 1:57.370 9. Alex Barros Pramac d'Antin Ducati 1:57.690 10. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 1:57.700 11. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki Racing 1:57.730 12. Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1:57.760 13. Alex Hofmann Pramac d'Antin Ducati 1:57.800 14. Shinya Nakano Konica Minolta Honda 1:57.850 15. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki 1:57.900 16. Makoto Tamada Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 1:58.408 17. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki Racing 1:58.740 18. Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1:59.400 19. Sylvain Guintoli Dunlop Yamaha Tech3 1:59.700 20. Shinichi Ito Ducati TTT 1:59.966 21. Andrew Pitt Ilmor GP 2:01.667 22. Jeremy McWilliams Ilmor GP 2:10.341 All Timing Unofficial
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