Stoner quickest in Valencia test

Casey Stoner set the fastest time on the first day of the post-season MotoGP test at Valencia today

The Ducati rider's best effort was a tenth of a second quicker than his fastest lap in Sunday's race, while Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi set the next quickest times in a repeat of the top three from the weekend's Grand Prix. Although Rossi only joined in for the last two hours of the day.

The Suzuki's of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi were fourth and fifth quickest, ahead of Alex de Angelis on the Gresini Honda and Jorge Lorenzo's factory Yamaha.

But the spotlight today was on the riders having their first tests for new teams. Several riders switched to their new homes today as Nicky Hayden moved to Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso took his place at Repsol Honda, Marco Melandri switched to Kawasaki, and Toni Elias moved back to Gresini Honda..

Other riders also joined the series today, with Sete Gibernau making his MotoGP return on the Onde Ducati, 250cc graduates Mika Kallio and Yuki Takahashi in action for Alice Ducati and JiR Team Scot Honda, and Niccolo Canepa alongside Kallio at Alice.

Dovizioso was quickest of those to change bikes since Sunday's race, setting the eighth fastest time 1.2 seconds adrift of Stoner's benchmark.

Melandri was inside the top ten and just 0.022s slower than new Kawasaki teammate John Hopkins, while Hayden was 12th for Ducati and 1.5s behind Stoner as he concentrated on acclimatising himself with the new machine.

Lorenzo continued his troubled time at Valencia with a crash during the afternoon, but was unhurt.

The test was also the first run on Bridgestone tyres for all the riders that raced with Michelin this year, on MotoGP's first day as a single-tyre championship. The test will conclude tomorrow.

Pos Rider                Team                      Time           
 1. Casey Stoner         Ducati Marlboro Team      1:32.464
 2. Dani Pedrosa         Repsol Honda              1:32.672
 3. Valentino Rossi      Fiat Yamaha Team          1:32.921
 4. Chris Vermeulen      Rizla Suzuki MotoGP       1:33.142
 5. Loris Capirossi      Rizla Suzuki MotoGP       1:33.325
 6. Alex De Angelis      San Carlo Honda Gresini   1:33.375
 7. Jorge Lorenzo        Fiat Yamaha Team          1:33.550
 8. Andrea Dovizioso     Repsol Honda              1:33.676
 9. John Hopkins         Kawasaki Racing Team      1:33.760
10. Marco Melandri       Kawasaki Racing Team      1:33.782
11. Randy De Puniet      LCR Honda MotoGP          1:33.832
12. Nicky Hayden         Ducati Marlboro Team      1:33.960
13. Toni Elias           San Carlo Honda Gresini   1:34.129
14. Sete Gibernau        Onde 2000 Ducati          1:34.451
15. Mika Kallio          Alice Team                1:34.793
16. Olivier Jacque       Kawasaki Racing Team      1:34.925
17. Niccolo Canepa       Alice Team                1:34.995
18. Yuki Takahashi       JiR Team Scot Honda       1:35.203