Casey Stoner of Australia issued an early warning to his MotoGP rivals by clocking the fastest time in the first free practice for the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix on Friday.
Stoner also laid to rest worries about his left wrist surgery last November to repair a damaged scaphoid bone. Despite no lateral movement in the wrist, he timed 1 minute, 57.053 seconds in his Ducati around 17 laps of the Losail circuit in pleasant conditions.
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He’s won the last two races here, the first sending him to his only world title.
The Ducati Marlboro rider set a quickest time of one minute 57.053 seconds around the Losail circuit.
That edged out Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha as the defending champion’s best lap was 1:57.439.
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First Free Practice: Results
1 Casey STONER AUS DUCATI 1’57.053
2 Valentino ROSSI ITA YAMAHA 1’57.439
3 Colin EDWARDS USA YAMAHA 1’57.835
4 Jorge LORENZO SPA YAMAHA 1’58.272
5 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM HONDA 1’58.452
6 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA SUZUKI 1’58.468
7 Mika KALLIO FIN DUCATI 1’58.499
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA HONDA 1’58.506
9 Marco MELANDRI ITA KAWASAKI 1’58.757
10 Randy DE PUNIET FRA HONDA 1’58.771
11 James TOSELAND GBR YAMAHA 1’58.850
12 Toni ELIAS SPA HONDA 1’59.094
13 Nicky HAYDEN USA DUCATI 1’59.158
14 Chris VERMEULEN AUS SUZUKI 1’59.348
15 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN HONDA 1’59.437
16 Sete GIBERNAU SPA DUCATI 2’00.595
17 Niccolo CANEPA ITA DUCATI 2’00.597
18 Dani PEDROSA SPA HONDA 2’01.435
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