After sitting second to Casey Stoner during Monday’s first night of real track action at the Qatar test, MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi ‘suffered’ on Tuesday – dropping to third position with a best lap time 1.228sec behind Stoner. “In the early part of the evening we were fast enough but later on, when it became much colder and the grip went down, we suffered quite a bit,” admitted …

Having been fastest of all on his MotoGP comeback from wrist surgery during the first test of 2009 at Sepang last month, Casey Stoner made it two out of two with an awesome display at the Qatar night test. Whilst Stoner had been just 0.094sec ahead of reigning MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi in Malaysia, he multiplied that advantage by ten at Qatar – sitting 0.989sec clear of Rossi’s …

Casey Stoner finishes Qatar MotoGP night test almost one second clear of his nearest rival.

Having been fastest of all at the previous Sepang test, Casey Stoner continued his 2009 test domination by pulling almost one second clear of his nearest rival on the third and final night of the Qatar MotoGP test. Stoner, like many of the leading riders, didn’t record a quick lap during the damp and dirty opening night, but was already over 0.6sec quicker than Valentino Rossi by the end of …

Casey Stoner was optimistic about progress with his injured wrist after topping the times on the second night of pre-season testing in Qatar.

Having been one of a number of riders to sit out Sunday’s rain interrupted opening night of testing in Qatar, Casey Stoner was back with a vengeance on Monday – leading the way by over 0.6sec from reigning MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi. But the main news with that Dani Pedrosa, third in the 2008 title chase behind Rossi and Stoner, was stretchered away from the track after a heavy fall …

Moni & Drew @ Flickr

If you’ve ever wanted to tilt and scythe your way though corners like Mick Doohan or Barry Sheene, but never had the gumption to do it, the Carver One may be for you.

MotoGP lap times from a quiet opening night at the Qatar test, held at Losail. One hour after the circuit opened at 6pm, a heavy shower brought proceedings to an abrupt halt. With no sun to dry the floodlit surface, wet patches remained on parts of the track until the end of the test at 12 midnight. As a result, reigning world champion Valentino Rossi (like team-mate Jorge Lorenzo) completed …