Stoner: Wrist problem remains an issue

The former world champion has suffered with wrist pain since an old injury flared up again last summer. He postponed the necessary surgery until November so he could complete the 2008 season, but was frustrated that his recovery was not progressing faster after suffering severe discomfort during last month's Sepang test.

Having feared that the injury would also wreck his 2009 campaign - or even the rest of his career - Stoner was pleased to find riding less painful at Losail this week, but remained cautious about about his wrist's progress.

"The wrist has responded quite well - it's not as painful as it was at Sepang even though the mobility still hasn't improved much," said Stoner.

"We'll have to see how at feels at circuits with harder braking and more left-hand corners, which is where I struggle the most."

The Ducati rider had a minor crash last night, which he put down to deteriorating weather.

"We knew the track conditions would get worse at around ten o'clock and that proved to be the case," Stoner said.

"The crash was on the way into turn two and it was very similar to the one here last year - practically from an upright position. I got straight back on the other bike but with such an unpredictable track we decided to finish an hour early because the conditions were only getting worse."

Despite the accident and his continued fitness concerns, Stoner ended the test 0.9 seconds faster than the rest of the field.

"I'm obviously very happy with the lap time and the rhythm we put together today although I would have liked to have been able to get a few more laps in and test some more stuff," he said.

"We still managed to try a few things with the electronics - some of them good and some not so good and we confirmed the good feeling I had yesterday with the new swingarm, although we still need more time to work on it and that's what we'll be doing at Jerez."