MotoGP Qatar test: Casey Stoner happy despite late crash

MotoGP champion Casey Stoner declared himself happy and ready to begin the defence of his world crown despite a late crash in Qatar.

With temperatures dropping late on the second night of testing under floodlights, the Aussie lost the front end of his factory Ducati on the entry to the second corner.

• Get all the latest from the Qatar test here

He escaped major injury but suffered a small puncture wound just under his left elbow as he finished with the fifth best time overall.

Stoner clocked his best time of 1.55.845 on a Bridgestone qualifying tyre after he was again in irrepressible form on race rubber.

Stoner had continued his domination from the first day earlier in the evening when the Australian finally took to the track after waiting for over two hours following his record-breaking performance yesterday, and immediately surged to the top of the timesheets.

Stoner’s fourth lap saw him clock a 1.55.887 which was 0.020s faster than next best Randy de Puniet achieved in 31 laps up until shortly after 8pm.

He said: “I’m pretty happy with the way this test has gone despite the tumble at the end. With the temperature dropping I just lost the front but it was no major drama.

“Having said that I think that in the Safety Commission we need to talk about the size of the gravel pieces because here, like at Jerez, they’re too big – they’re more like rocks than stones and they can hurt you even in a small crash.

“Apart from that I was really happy with my pace, though we have still got some work to do with the qualifying tyres. We are a little bit behind but for me the most important is the races tyres and I’m happy with the progress. Now we’ve got a couple of days to relax after months of testing and then we finally go racing. We’re in good shape and I can’t wait to get started.”

Stoner wasn’t the only casualty tonight, as Bridgestone seemed to have more problems than rivals Michelin with the cold track temperatures.

Gresini Honda team-mates Shinya Nakano and Alex de Angelis both crashed in the last hour. Japanese rider Nakano needed treatment on a left finger injury after his crash on the 14th lap of a planned 22-lap race simulation.

Stoner’s struggling team-mate Marco Melandri also bit the dust in the closing stages as he ended up a dismal 15th quickest. That completed a Ducati hat-trick after French rider Sylvain Guintoli had slid unhurt off the Alice-backed GP8.

Loris Capirossi also escaped unhurt after crashing his Rizla Suzuki.