Casey Stoner fastest at Jerez testing

Casey Stoner produced a dominant performance to win the keys to a BMW sports car in Jerez this afternoon.

The Aussie posted a stunning best time of 1.38.646 on his 12th lap to outclass his MotoGP rivals. 

The factory Ducati rider had logged the quickest time in this morning’s session and was quickly out of the blocks in the televised 45-minute shootout for a brand new BMW. The session is a traditional curtain-raiser for the new MotoGP season.

Stoner surged to the top of the timesheets on only his third lap when he clocked a best time of 1.39.176.

That put him over 0.7s clear of the field and he never looked in danger of relinquishing top spot.

He set his best time with nine minutes of the session remaining, shortly after the track had re-opened following a spectacular high-side crash suffered by British rider James Toseland.

Stoner’s brilliant form left him 0.719s clear of closest rival Valentino Rossi, who was the only other rider to lap within a second of the 2007 world champion. Today’s success was the fourth successive BMW he has won.

Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi logged a best of 1.39.365, but he was never closer than 0.304s to Stoner during the session. Stoner secured the keys to yet another BMW car when the session was red flagged again because of rain that finally started to fall as thick black clouds circled the Jerez circuit.

Loris Capirossi continued Suzuki’s stunning start to 2009 by claiming the third quickest time. The Italian veteran posted a best of 1.39.757, but that was 1.111s slower than Stoner.

Jorge Lorenzo couldn’t convert his impressive form from yesterday into today. The Spaniard was only fourth quickest with a best time of 1.39.829. Chris Vermeulen was the last rider to lap inside of 1.5s of Stoner, with Finnish rider Mika Kallio an impressive sixth fastest on the Pramac Ducati.

Best Honda rider was Andrea Dovizioso down in seventh place, while Nicky Hayden was only 11th as he survived a near miss with 14 minutes remaining. He somehow stayed on his Ducati GP9 after running into the gravel trap at high speed.

1  Casey STONER   AUS  Ducati Marlboro Team   Ducati   1’38.646
2  Valentino ROSSI  ITA  Fiat Yamaha Team   Yamaha   1’39.365
3  Loris CAPIROSSI  ITA  Rizla Suzuki MotoGP   Suzuki   1’39.757
4  Jorge LORENZO   SPA  Fiat Yamaha Team   Yamaha   1’39.829
5  Chris VERMEULEN  AUS  Rizla Suzuki MotoGP   Suzuki   1’39.848
6  Mika KALLIO   FIN  Pramac Racing    Ducati   1’40.149
7  Andrea DOVIZIOSO  ITA  Repsol Honda Team   Honda   1’40.168
8  Sete GIBERNAU   SPA  Grupo Francisco Hernando  Ducati   1’40.228
9  Toni ELIAS   SPA  San Carlo Honda Gresini  Honda   1’40.266
10  Colin EDWARDS   USA  Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   1’40.305
11  Nicky HAYDEN   USA  Ducati Marlboro Team   Ducati   1’40.401
12  Marco MELANDRI   ITA  Hayate Racing Team   Kawasaki  1’40.405
13  Randy DE PUNIET  FRA  LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   1’40.646
14  Yuki TAKAHASHI   JPN  Scot Racing Team MotoGP  Honda   1’40.814
15  Alex DE ANGELIS  RSM  San Carlo Honda Gresini  Honda   1’40.869
16  James TOSELAND   GBR  Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   1’41.425
17  Vittoriano GUARESCHI  ITA  Ducati Team    Ducati   1’41.485
18  Niccolo CANEPA   ITA  Pramac Racing    Ducati   1’41.551
19  Kousuke AKIYOSHI  JPN  Repsol Honda Team   Honda   1’42.206