Barros crashes

Brazilian veteran Alex Barros added his name to a long list of crashes at the Qatar test late on the final afternoon.

The D’Antin Ducati rider lost the front end at Turn Two as he ended the day with the ninth fastest time.

He walked away unscathed from the crash and said: “I was pushing and just lost the front but I am happy because we made some big progress on the final day after a tough first two days that were terrible.”

Big surprise on the final day was the form on Barros’ German team-mate Alex Hofmann. He clocked the fourth best time on a Bridgestone qualifying tyre to finish just 0.4s behind former world champion Valentino Rossi.

The Qatar test saw a number of crashes with worst victims John Hopkins and Olivier Jacque. Hopkins has a suspected broken bone in his right hand after he crashed at Turn 13 this morning, while French Kawasaki rider Jacque stopped at lunchtime today after just 12 laps, still suffering the effects of concussion he suffered in a massive crash on day one.

Casey Stoner, Shinya Nakano, Loris Capirossi, Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet have all crashed this week.