Qatar MotoGP: Chatter returns but Casey Stoner still fastest

A return of the dreaded chatter problem that plagued Casey Stoner for long spells of the pre-season winter testing campaign failed to stop the reigning world champion from heading the practice timesheets in Qatar tonight.

Stoner’s new Honda RC213V machine was hit with chatter problems during two test sessions at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia earlier this year.

The issue, which is a severe vibration that occurs under braking and corner entry, started when Bridgestone introduced its new soft compound rear tyres with better initial warm-up performance.

The Australian didn’t encounter any chatter issues at the final pre-season test in Jerez but they were back with a vengeance at the Losail International Circuit in Doha tonight.

The issue was a distraction but not sufficient to stop the 26-year-old from setting a best time of 1.56.474 that secured him top spot ahead of factory Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo by 0.174s.

The double MotoGP world champion told MCN: “The track tonight wasn’t too bad and I expected it to be much worse because normally we test here before.

“But we started with a huge issue with chatter and I was a bit afraid that we couldn’t fix it. But we reduced the chatter a lot during the session and this was a positive point for the rest of the weekend. It was three times worse than in Sepang but then we reduced it back to the normal amount.

“This was a relief because the first two exits were unbelievable. I thought I was going to lose all the feeling in my teeth because it was so bad. We made some progress and the last exit I could feel a bit more the track because when it is so slippery and dirty off line and you have a lot of chatter, it doesn’t give you a lot of confidence.

“It was on every single corner on the track. When I was 50% lean angle it was not too bad but at maximum lean angle it was a disaster. It is not comfortable and it doesn’t give me confidence but we can ride for the race no problem with how it was at the end of the session.

“But the one earlier in the evening I was scared of it. It was chattering so much in the middle of the corner that I didn’t have any contact with the tarmac, but now it is acceptable.”