Stoner fastest in final Qatar practice
Casey Stoner continued his domination of the opening MotoGP weekend of the season by setting the fastest time of the final practice in Qatar on Saturday
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
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