MotoGP Official Test - Jerez - Day 2
 STONER
AHEAD OF THE PACK IN FIRST 'QUALIFYING' SESSION OF 2008
The weather matched the forecasts for the second day of the
Official MotoGP Test at Jerez de la Frontera, with overnight
rain continuing this morning to dictate the track conditions.
The downfall ceased shortly before the afternoon's 40-minute
'qualifying' practice but the track remained damp and slippery
throughout.
Marco Melandri was one of the victims of the tricky conditions
and he lost control of his GP8, escaping injury in the ensuing
crash - his first with the Ducati - and returning to the track
in time to join the battle for lap times.
Casey Stoner quickly took control of matters and on just
his fifth lap he set the benchmark at 1'49.263, a lap that
none of his rivals were able to match. In fact, five of Stoner's
total nine laps during the session were faster than the second-placed
rider, with conditions remaining difficult even as the track
dried in the cool temperatures.
Melandri was hot on the heels of his team-mate in the opening
part of the session but finally dropped down to tenth place.
Cold temperatures and increasingly high winds meant the session
was ended early at 1600h.
Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), best time: 1'49.263
(9 laps in qualifying; 28 in free practice
"This is fantastic. Last year we did an amazing job
in all the qualifying sessions during the season and I was
able to take a car at the end of it so to start out 2008 in
the same way is great. We found quite a good wet setting this
morning so we decided to run a tyre that was a little harder
than some of the other guys because there was not so much
water on the track. Obviously with a harder tyre the grip
is not the same but durability is better and with the track
drying this really helped. We were able to use the same tyre
for the whole session although I actually think I could have
gone even faster if we'd have put a new one on at the end.
I'm really happy with the way the bike was working in the
dry at the end of yesterday and in the wet today. Being more
competitive in testing means we can be even more competitive
at the races but nothing is ever perfect and there is always
room for improvement. We're just trying to improve the bike's
performance at circuits where we had problems last season
and from that perspective things are going very well."
Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team), best time:
1'52.238 (15 laps in qualifying; 20 in free practice)
"Today has been the classic 'wasted' day as far as the
test is concerned, because there's not a lot you can do in
these conditions. This morning we tried out the wet setting
and we were making improvements when I suffered my first crash
with the Ducati, which was quite heavy but nothing too serious.
In the first part of the qualifying session I was able to
go quite fast straight away but after a quick pit-stop I wasn't
able to improve my time by much - just over a tenth on the
last lap - which was partly due to the fact that in the crash
I'd destroyed one of the tyres that worked well in these conditions
and I didn't have a new one to put on. With the weather getting
worse we decided to finish for the day and hope for better
weather so that we can continue our work tomorrow."
Jerez Circuit info
Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha - 2005) 1'49.263
Best pole: Loris Capirossi (Ducati - 2006) 1'39.064
Lap times 17 February 2008
1. Stoner (Ducati) 1.49.263
2. Rossi (Yamaha) 1.50.580
3. Hayden (Honda) 1.50.785
4. West (Kawasaki) 1.50.799
5. Dovizioso (Honda) 1.51.312
6. Nakano (Honda) 1.51.594
7. Capirossi (Suzuki) 1.51.894
8. De Puniet (Honda) 1.51.979
9. Guintoli (Ducati) 1.52.058
10. Melandri (Ducati) 1.52.238
11. De Angelis (Honda) 1.52.463
12. Toseland (Yamaha) 1.52.755
13. Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1.52.779
14. Edwards (Yamaha) 1.52.826
15. Jacque (KawasakI) 1.53.283
16. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1.53.292
17. Guareschi (Ducati) 1.54.694
18. Canepa (Ducati) 1.57.453
19. Elias (Ducati) 1.57.698
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