Stoner fastest in final Qatar practice

The Ducati rider hit the top of the timesheet early in the hour and remained there throughout, with Valentino Rossi's Yamaha within three tenths all the way.

There was little improvement during the session as the riders concentrated on race preparation, but there was a flurry of improvements in the last five minutes as Randy de Puniet jumped Andrea Dovizioso for third.

Jorge Lorenzo spent the vast majority of the session outside the top eight, but found three tenths of a second in the last three minutes to move up to fifth.

Mika Kallio was sixth quickest on his Pramac Ducati with Ben Spies seventh on the first Tech 3 Yamaha.

Loris Capirosso finished practice eighth, with Dani Pedrosa's Honda and Colin Edwards' Yamaha completing the top 10.

Nicky Hayden was only 11th on the second factory Ducati, with former 250cc rivals Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista 12th and 13th.

Pos Rider                 Team/Bike            Time          Gap
 1. Casey Stoner          Ducati               1m55.501s
 2. Valentino Rossi       Yamaha               1m55.841s  +0.340
 3. Randy de Puniet       LCR Honda            1m56.350s  +0.849
 4. Andrea Dovizioso      Honda                1m56.569s  +1.068
 5. Jorge Lorenzo         Yamaha               1m56.646s  +1.145
 6. Mika Kallio           Pramac Ducati        1m56.664s  +1.163
 7. Ben Spies             Tech 3 Yamaha        1m56.678s  +1.177
 8. Loris Capirossi       Suzuki               1m56.713s  +1.212
 9. Dani Pedrosa          Honda                1m56.736s  +1.235
10. Colin Edwards         Tech 3 Yamaha        1m56.776s  +1.275
11. Nicky Hayden          Ducati               1m56.786s  +1.285
12. Marco Simoncelli      Gresini Honda        1m56.796s  +1.295
13. Alvaro Bautista       Suzuki               1m56.972s  +1.471
14. Aleix Espargaro       Pramac Ducati        1m57.024s  +1.523
15. Hector Barbera        Aspar Ducati         1m57.272s  +1.771
16. Hiroshi Aoyama        Interwetten Honda    1m57.371s  +1.870
17. Marco Melandri        Gresini Honda        1m57.513s  +2.012