Vermeulen fastest in Turkey test

Vermeulen's best lap was one tenth faster than Pramac D'Antin's Alex Barros, one of the sensations of Sunday's race after he just missed out on a podium on his privateer Ducati.

Ducati Marlboro's Stoner ended the day third overall, although he could not believe his luck after taking a spill halfway through the day-long session.

"It was hard to get out of bed this morning after yesterday's race, but I knew I had to do some work because I want to do the same in China," said the Australian, who leads the MotoGP standings.

"We did some tyre testing on race and qualifying, and found some good solutions for both. We also worked on engine mapping and managed to get through a lot of work because we had good weather in the post-race test sessions for the first time.

"The only thing that went wrong was that I had a stupid crash. I was on my exit lap, I wasn't pushing hard and I crashed in a slow corner. It wasn't a big crash but I got a knock on the head which I'm sure will make me go quicker in China."

Stoner's teammate Loris Capirossi evaluated a new front fork to help his confidence in his bike, as well as a new qualifying tyre that he believes will be a step forward over what Bridgestone had available in Turkey. He ended the day seventh overall.

Toni Elias, fresh from his second placed finish on Sunday, was fourth fastest, ahead of Honda Gresini teammate Marco Melandri and Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins.

Today's times:

Pos  Rider            Team                       Time     Laps
 1.  Chris Vermeulen   Rizla Suzuki MotoGP       1:53.1   68
 2.  Alex Barros       D'Antin Ducati            1:53.2   65
 3.  Toni Elias        Honda Gresini             1:53.3   74
 4.  Casey Stoner      Ducati Marlboro Team      1:53.3   42
 5.  Marco Melandri    Gresini Honda             1:53.4   85
 6.  John Hopkins      Rizla Suzuki MotoGP       1:53.5   68
 7.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati Marlboro Team      1:53.6   52
 8.  Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki Racing           1:53.6   52
 9.  Carlos Checa      LCR Honda                 1:53.6   27
10.  Nicky Hayden      Repsol Honda Team         1:53.8  106
11.  Kenny Roberts Jr  Team Roberts              1:53.9   84
12.  Valentino Rossi   Fiat Yamaha Team          1:54.0   66
13.  Alex Hofmann      D'Antin Ducati            1:54.2   32
14.  Sylvain Guintoli  Tech 3 Yamaha             1:54.5   68