The first night of the third and final pre-season test of 2011 in Qatar saw once again Honda riders dominate and take the first three top spots on the time charts.
Dani Pedrosa took command from Casey Stoner who had lead most of the test session with a best lap of 1′56.
271 that was just 0.
143s faster that his factory team mate.
The third spot went to a surprising Hiroshi Aoyama (who is naturally worried about the situation in Japan, as his hometown Chiba was hard hit by the earthquake) riding a upgraded Honda after that team boss Gresini confirmed that all his team is now 100% factory backed.
Following the Honda trio was the Yamaha tag team Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo.
The American rider once again concluded the test ahead of team mate and reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, with Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards closely tailing Lorenzo with a mere 0.
060s separating the two.
The Ducati’s seem to performing much better in Qatar than they had the torridly hot and humid Sepang.
With three riders breaking into the top ten.
Valentino Rossi managed to take the eighth position, seven tenths of second off pace after a small crash at the beginning session and some type of mechanical failure while team mate Nicky Hayden was right behind him in ninth, after they exchanged positions in the final minutes of the test, only to have Rossi pip him on the last lap.
Randy de Puniet on the satellite Pramac Ducati was tenth after two crashes.
Marco Simoncelli was eleventh and seemingly unable to repeat his previous stellar test performances with the RC212V.
Even Alvaro Bautista seemed to be struggling more than he had in Malaysia with his 12th spot and a little more than a second off pace.
From 13th to 15th places were all satellite Ducati riders, Hector Barbera, Loris Capirossi followed by rookie Karel Abraham.
Cal Crutchlow was 16th coming to grips with riding the Losail circuiit under the lights and Toni Elias was the last rider on the grid.
Testing will continue tomorrow night before the season officially kicks off on Thursday the 17th, when official free practice starts for the first race of the 2011 season.
MotoGP Qatar test day 1 results:01- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 1’56.
27102- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
14303- Hiroshi Aoyama – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
17304- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
29205- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
41106- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
47107- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
50908- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 0.
76709- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 0.
86610- Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 0.
87211- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
95512- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1.
03113- Hector Barbera – Mapfre Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
05414- Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
16615- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
22816- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
46617- Toni Elias – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1.
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