Free practice times (1) - Qatar.

See 4 out of that top 5, thats the future of MotoGP right there.

Stoner tops the sheets again. Impressive start from Lorenzo, lets see if he can keep it up things get more serious towards the chequered flag. And Dovizioso did well too. Good job by Toseland also right there with Edwards, pretty impressive showing by the rookies so far.

Expected more from Melandri though, hope he can pick it up.

Lorenzo looks like he is on a qualifier as his next lap I think was 2.05. Looks like no one can get near the duke again... It'll only get colder/damper and you would expect the duke advantage to increase in those conditions..yamaha, honda and kawasaki, please go to the ducati university for lessons in how to build a screamer..

The duc is running a Screamer?

I beleive Ducatis school of thought was something like this.

Bike - Make it fast as hell and sort the handling out after (theory being its easier to make a fast bike handle than a slow bike fast)

Rider - Get a quick rider and calm him down (its easier to make a fast reckless rider smooth than a slow rider fast)

Result = Race wins and championships.

Compared to Honda and Yam Ducati are a small company and I love seeing the little man stick it to the giant, no matter who it is. (I'm not really Ducatis biggest fan in general, they piss me off in WSBK for example)

Foo, you make it sound like a formula
Well, for a small factory like Ducati, it was a hell of a risk to even going from the 990 to the 800. Taking a crashing rider like Stoner was another one.
But you make it sound a bit like no care was given to the chassis, and nothing is further from the truth: Ducati has been building better chassis when the Japanese companies were still using spaghettis for frame on their road bikes...
All together, a serious line of clever ahead thinking and risks and i love it cos it WORKS !

Looks at these times people. Yeah, yeah Stoner was ahead today but, Rossi wasn't far behind. I'm telling you guys, if that Yamaha has increased as far as top speed is concerned, the season won't be the same as it was last year. Rossi is a slugger and slugs it out till the VERY last lap if his bike and tires will permit it. If Yamaha really worked out most of the problems they had last year, Stoner's gonna have to work ALOT harder for his victories. As far as the mental aspect of it all, people can say whatever they want about Stoner's dirtbike past making him "harder" mentally. I'm sure having VALENTINO ROSSI coming for you on a revitalized bike is enough to crack the best of them.

looking like another boring season ahead. they may as well hand stoner the championship now get presentations done and over with

i dont think rossi coming after him will make him crack, tho i agree his previous dirt bike riding has no relavence to anything. its annoying to constantly hear that u have to ride a dirt bike first to know how to race, its rubbish.

jihem is correct about ducati too, they are actually more known for better handeling machines.

its nice to see all the michelin riders up front as in every race, but bridgestones still have the race pace. Its sad to say, but for this race, its going to be a battle between valentino rossi and casey stoner. The battle for 3rd should be great! .....the 2007 repsol hondas are in trouble. yikes!

I followed the practice on live timing, Casey rides "easily" low 1.56 or high 1.55 every time. If the conditions not changes I reckon that will be his race pace.. Don't see anybody comes near...

what is nice to see, is rossi is a bit more on the pace compared to the last test, lets hope times tumble and get closer before sunday....I CANT BLOODY WAIT ANY LONGER!

i've decided to go with open minds into the championship...i just wanna see good racing and plenty of sportsmanship..

now...1hr 40mins till some tv action, lol

Good performances by Michelin tough...

Actually how many times the Ducati from Stoner broke down last year due to mechanical failure? Right.

Stoner is the only one being able to use the theoretical performance of this unaccesible bike, BUT the performance and reliability were last year way ahead of everyone. It's not Stoner OR Ducati OR B'stone that win, it's Stoner AND Ducati AND B'Stone that win. Any other Duc ever ridden is struggling because the bike is "bad".

But the gap between Ducati/Stoner/Bridge and the "rest" has NOTHING to do with the first year on 800's. 2006 Hayden had to fight and Stoner didn't really. Only this year we'll see what Casey is made of...

Let's see Sunday Night what is going to happen.

I noticed during timing that Hayden was fast during the start, then he pitted and was much slower the rest of the session.
Also Pedrosa was slow at the start then after he pitted he was much faster. I can only guess that Hayden went out first on the 07 bike then came in and got on the 08 bike??? and Pedrosa went out on the 08 then came back in and went out on the 07???

What do you guys think?

Brendan, nothing teaches u to ride a bike as well as offroad / MX.

Look at how few guys that race track even own road bikes ... but 99% of them own dirt bikes that they train on regularly.

Alright guys...time has come to catch up with the season. Hope stoner fans don't start blaring their loud mouths! I was very happy to see Australian cricket team biting the dust in their own home grounds with their arrogance. Now, Stoner's time has come

Believe me, this 2008 season won't be easy at all. Battle will be between 5 top riders; Rossi-Lorenzo-Stoner-Pedrosa-Toseland. Go baby go!!! Give us the best ever season

PS: not a cranky 46 fan

No bboz, when they came in they swapped settings ...
Luckily Dani has Hayden to set up the bike!

I see from the FP1 results on MotoGP.com that the Duke is still about 7 or 9 km/h faster down the straight than the others - not as much as last year, but that Yam still needs a few more 'ponies'.

FWIW my predictions:
Qualifying: 1. Lorenzo 2. Stoner 3. Hayden
Race: 1. Stoner 2. Rossi 3. Lorenzo

No bboz, when they came in they swapped settings ...
Luckily Dani has Hayden to set up the bike!
Posted by Dice - Unregistered

Where did you get this info?

The next session is the important one as track conditions will have changed to what can be expected in the race probably necessitating different tyres so the test work starts again.

This meeting is unusual in that track temperature(grip levels)normally rise after the first session. That first session track temp may have been 25 deg C whereas the next could be 15deg C.

This is the opposite to what the teams and tyre suppliers normally experience.

Will riders go for their Q laps early rather than in the last few minutes and use remaining time to asses grip levels on race tyres?

Looks like the 2007 HRC bike works better than the 2008 version.