Paul Carruthers | November 11, 2009
With Jorge Lorenzo and the rest of the Yamaha men departing the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain, yesterday, Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner and teammate Nicky Hayden took full advantage to end the day as the fastest and third fastest riders, respectively.Stoner led the way today and his 1:31.900 was the fastest of the three days as he knocked Lorenzo and his 1:31.939 set yesterday from the top spot.Dani Pedrosa was second fastest today, his 1:31.944 just fractionally slower than Lorenzo’s best as the Repsol Honda rider joined Stoner and Lorenzo as the only three riders to crack the 1:32 barrier.Hayden ended up third fastest today as he continues to make progress on the factory Ducati. The former AMA Superbike and 2006 MotoGP World Champion posted a 1:32.805 today – a time that puts him fifth overall after the three days of testing. His best lap today also moved him to within a second of Stoner’s best as he trailed by .861 of a second.”We worked on confirming a few things today and I think we found what we were looking for,” Hayden said in a team release. “I like the changes we’ve introduced to the bike, the power delivery is definitely more progressive although we still need to find the ideal setting for it. I got my lap times down by a couple of tenths today, thanks to the new Bridgestone tyres, which are great. I’m happy – I think we’re on the right tracks and we have had three important days here that should help us make a lot of progress in the next test and close the gap to the front guys down even more. I want to thank the team because it is never easy after a such a demanding season and a long weekend to go testing for three days. So thanks to all my mechanics and to my brother Tommy for being here with me, and everybody working back at Ducati. I think we can all be proud of the progress we have made this season and look ahead to next year in really positive spirits.”Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso recovered from his crash yesterday that left him with an injured hip to turn in a 1:32.825 with San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri and Pramac Ducati’s Mika Kallio also getting into the 1:32s on the final day.
Day 3
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1:31.900
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1:31.944
3. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1:32.805
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1:32.825
5. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1:32.936
6. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 1:32.988
7. Aleix Espargaro (Ducati) 1:33.275
8. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 1:33.464
9. Hector Barbera (Honda) 1:33.787
10. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) 1:33.856.
Paul Carruthers | Editor
Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.
