Stoner fastest on final test day

From motogp.com

The final day of the post-season MotoGP test at Valencia concluded with Casey Stoner the fastest rider at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

Stoner led the lap times on Wednesday, as he finished the first phase of the fine-tuning of his Ducati Desmosedici machine with a best time of 1:31.900.

Testing new forks and a revised engine configuration on his factory prototype before the test was wrapped up at 1pm, Stoner put in 35 laps during the session, with his top time placing him 0.044 secs. ahead of Dani Pedrosa.

“We were able to understand the bike a little better today and the fantastic weather conditions certainly helped. It was a pleasant surprise when we got up this morning and it allowed us to work well,” said Stoner.

“I’m satisfied with this three-day test and with the new characteristics of the bike, in particular the extra traction in corner exit. It is still difficult to figure out exactly the best time to open the throttle, but we’re getting there and it is a case of more practice and improving the set-up.”

Pedrosa, who has been testing Ohlins suspension on his 2010 RC212V prototype, was the only other rider to break the 1:32 barrier, with Stoner’s team-mate Nicky Hayden completing what has been a strong test for the Ducati factory bikes as he ranked third fastest, just under a second off his Australian colleague’s pace.

“We worked on confirming a few things today and I think we found what we were looking for,” he said. “I like the changes we’ve introduced to the bike; the power delivery is definitely more progressive although we still need to find the ideal setting for it. I’m happy – I think we’re on the right track and have had three important days here that should help us make a lot of progress in the next test, and close the gap to the front guys down even more.”

Andrea Dovizioso made a vast improvement on his previous two days’ work as he also came within a second of Stoner’s marker, completing a good final session for the factory Honda team.

Continuing his re-acquaintance with the Honda RC212V, Marco Melandri finished fifth quickest for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team.

The new aluminum swingarm used by Mika Kallio helped the Finn continue well on his Pramac Ducati, with new team-mate Aleix Espargaró also enjoying the last day of the test as his best lap saw him rank seventh-fastest as he took in 55 laps.

Loris Capirossi completed 43 turns on his Suzuki, while Héctor Barberá led the 250cc graduates with a best time of 1:33.787 on his Aspar Ducati, lapping at just under 1.9 secs. off Stoner.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) were also present on the final morning of testing at Valencia as well.

MotoGP Day 3 Times
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1:31.900
2. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) +0.044
3. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) +0.905
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda Team) +0.925
5. Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +1.036
6. Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing Ducati) +1.088
7. Aleix Espargaro (Pramac Racing Ducati) +1.375
8. Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +1.564
9. Hector Barbera (Aspar Team Ducati) +1.887
10. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +1.956
11. Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +2.263
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team Honda) +2.921