MotoGP

Last Gasp Stoner Leads On Opening Day At Jerez

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Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda Team

Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda Team

 

Casey Stoner left it until his final lap of the day before going quickest on the opening day of the final pre-season test at Jerez. The World Champion trailed the Yamahas for much of the day, with Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies each taking turns at the top, but clocked a 1:39.146 to go a quarter of a second faster than Lorenzo.

Windy conditions made life difficult for everyone with Stoner sticking to shorter runs but over the course of the day, the Australian managed 54 laps, well over a full race distance. Lorenzo also had a productive day on the Yamaha completing an incredible 76 laps with his fastest good enough for second, a tenth ahead of Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa led the second factory Yamaha of Ben Spies while Cal Crutchlow finished a superb fifth for Monster Yamaha Tech 3, less than a second off the pace. The Briton outpaced the best of the Ducatis with Nicky Hayden in sixth, 1.366s down on Stoner, while Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Dovizioso completing the top eight on their satellite bikes.

Valentino Rossi could only manage ninth on the second Ducati and worryingly for the Italian squad, the former world champion was suffering with the same problems which blighted his 2011 campaign, particularly corner entry speed.

Stefan Bradl took tenth for LCR Honda but the performance of the day came from Randy de Puniet. The Frenchman was 11th on the Aprilia-supported CRT bike being run by the Aspar team, just 1.8 seconds off the pace and a tenth behind Rossi's factory Ducati.

Of the other Claiming Rule teams, Colin Edwards was three seconds off the pace in 16th with Michele Pirro right behind on his first day riding Gresini's FTR-Honda. James Ellison also tested the Paul Bird ART-Aprilia against the competition for the first time and was 21st overall, 4.331s in arrears.

 

MotoGP Official Test (Jerez) – Day One Classification

Pos Rider Bike Team Time/Gap
1  Casey Stoner Honda Repsol Honda Team 1:39.146
2  Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha Factory Racing +0.273
3  Dani Pedrosa Honda Repsol Honda Team +0.433
4  Ben Spies Yamaha Yamaha Factory Racing +0.838
5  Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.984
6  Nicky Hayden Ducati Ducati Team +1.366
7  Alvaro Bautista Honda San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.399
8  Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.519
9  Valentino Rossi Ducati Ducati Team +1.774
10  Stefan Bradl Honda LCR Honda +1.837
11  Randy de Puniet (CRT) ART Aprilia Power Electronics Aspar Team +1.869
12  Hector Barbera Ducati Pramac Racing Team +2.242
13  Karel Abraham Ducati Cardion AB Motoracing +2.457
14  Aleix Espargaro (CRT) ART Aprilia Power Electronics Aspar Team +3.147
15  Franco Battaini Ducati Ducati Team +3.257
16  Colin Edwards (CRT) Suter BMW NGM Mobile Forward Racing +3.316
17  Michele Pirro (CRT) FTR Honda San Carlo Honda Gresini +3.509
18  Danilo Petrucci (CRT) Ioda Aprilia Came Ioda Racing Project +3.604
19  Mattia Pasini (CRT) ART Aprilia Speed Master +3.869
20  Yonny Hernandez (CRT) FTR Kawasaki Avintia Racing MotoGP +4.291
21  James Ellison (CRT) ART Aprilia Paul Bird Motorsports +4.331
22  Ivan Silva (CRT) FTR Kawasaki Avintia Racing MotoGP +4.879

 

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