Rossi closes on Stoner in warm-up
Closing the gap: World champion Valentino Rossi is slowly catching Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner has continued his perfect score in Qatar by also topping the warm-up, after leading every MotoGP session so far this weekend.
The Ducati Marlboro rider, winner of the last two editions of the race at Losail, did not show the kind of dominance displayed in previous sessions however, with Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi just 62 thousandths of a second behind the time of 1:56.697 set by the Australian.
The rest of the field, however, saw much bigger gaps to the top two, who will start the race from the top two spots on the grid.
Andrea Dovizioso, with his Repsol Honda, managed to set the third fastest time ahead of the Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo with the factory entry and Colin Edwards on the Tech 3-backed satellite bike, but this trio was around seven tenths behind Stoner.
Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis and Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen were around one second behind, followed by Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda and Marco Melandri's Hayate Kawasaki, with James Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha completing the top ten.
Nicky Hayden, who is evaluating whether to take part in the race after a big shunt in qualifying yesterday, was 16th fastest with his Ducati Marlboro.
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m56.697s
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m56.759s + 0.062s
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m57.379s + 0.682s
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m57.399s + 0.702s
5. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1m57.449s + 0.752s
6. Alex de Angelis Honda 1m57.658s + 0.961s
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m57.700s + 1.003s
8. Randy de Puniet Honda 1m57.874s + 1.177s
9. Marco Melandri Kawasaki 1m58.097s + 1.400s
10. James Toseland Yamaha 1m58.344s + 1.647s
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m58.361s + 1.664s
12. Toni Elaas Honda 1m58.556s + 1.859s
13. Sete Gibernau Ducati 1m58.878s + 2.181s
14. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1m58.902s + 2.205s
15. Mika Kallio Ducati 1m59.129s + 2.432s
16. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m59.398s + 2.701s
17. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1m59.679s + 2.982s
18. Niccolo Canepa Ducati 1m59.912s + 3.215s
Source: autosport.com
Closing the gap: World champion Valentino Rossi is slowly catching Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner has continued his perfect score in Qatar by also topping the warm-up, after leading every MotoGP session so far this weekend.
The Ducati Marlboro rider, winner of the last two editions of the race at Losail, did not show the kind of dominance displayed in previous sessions however, with Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi just 62 thousandths of a second behind the time of 1:56.697 set by the Australian.
The rest of the field, however, saw much bigger gaps to the top two, who will start the race from the top two spots on the grid.
Andrea Dovizioso, with his Repsol Honda, managed to set the third fastest time ahead of the Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo with the factory entry and Colin Edwards on the Tech 3-backed satellite bike, but this trio was around seven tenths behind Stoner.
Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis and Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen were around one second behind, followed by Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda and Marco Melandri's Hayate Kawasaki, with James Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha completing the top ten.
Nicky Hayden, who is evaluating whether to take part in the race after a big shunt in qualifying yesterday, was 16th fastest with his Ducati Marlboro.
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m56.697s
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m56.759s + 0.062s
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m57.379s + 0.682s
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m57.399s + 0.702s
5. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1m57.449s + 0.752s
6. Alex de Angelis Honda 1m57.658s + 0.961s
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m57.700s + 1.003s
8. Randy de Puniet Honda 1m57.874s + 1.177s
9. Marco Melandri Kawasaki 1m58.097s + 1.400s
10. James Toseland Yamaha 1m58.344s + 1.647s
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m58.361s + 1.664s
12. Toni Elaas Honda 1m58.556s + 1.859s
13. Sete Gibernau Ducati 1m58.878s + 2.181s
14. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1m58.902s + 2.205s
15. Mika Kallio Ducati 1m59.129s + 2.432s
16. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m59.398s + 2.701s
17. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1m59.679s + 2.982s
18. Niccolo Canepa Ducati 1m59.912s + 3.215s
Source: autosport.com
