Jerez test: Casey Stoner ends pre-season testing on top

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner’s domination of winter testing was complete today when he topped the timesheets at the end of the final pre-season session in Jerez

A lap of 1.38.780 in the final 10 minutes moved the Australian 0.173s clear of factory Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo, who had led the leaderboard for the most of the final day.

Today’s result ensured Stoner has finished fastest in all three test sessions staged in 2012 to cement his status as overwhelming favourite to capture the inaugural 1000cc MotoGP crown.

Lorenzo though proved why he is likely to once again provide the toughest opposition after he finished with a best time of 1.38.953. His schedule today included a race simulation, which was impressively consistent throughout and the Spaniard lapped constantly in the low 1.40 bracket with a best lap of 1.39.952.

Stoner’s Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa was third quickest and 0.377s behind the former Ducati rider, while Ben Spies showed Yamaha’s YZR-M1 machine is a competitive force with a 1.39.495 securing him fourth.

British rider Cal Crutchlow’s sensational testing form continued and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider was fifth quickest for the second test in succession. He finished top non-factory rider again with a best time of 1.39.585 putting him 0.805s behind Stoner.

The Coventry rider though was ahead of Valentino Rossi, who recovered from outside of the top 10 with just over an hour to go when he set a 1.39.733 to leap into sixth on the new Ducati GP12.

He was the best Ducati with Nicky Hayden in eighth.

Randy de Puniet was the fastest CRT rider with a best lap of 1.40.601 on the Aspar Aprilia machine. That put him 13th and less than 0.1s behind Karel Abraham’s prototype Ducati GP12. The Frenchman was 1.821s adrift of Stoner’s speed.

Six of the new 1000cc CRT bikes lapped slower than Claudio Corti’s best pace of 1.41.983 in the earlier Moto2 test.

Experienced American Colin Edwards was down in 17th on the Suter-BMW with a best lap of 1.42.073. British rider James Ellison was 20th on the Paul Bird Motorsport Aprilia. The 31-year-old Cumbrian set a best time of 1.42.237.

The next time the MotoGP field will be on track will be on April 5 when practice gets underway for the opening round of the 2012 world championship at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

1  Casey STONER  Repsol Honda Team  1:38.780  –  –  61
2  Jorge LORENZO  Yamaha Factory Racing  1:38.953  +0.173  +0.173  84
3  Dani PEDROSA  Repsol Honda Team  1:39.157  +0.204  +0.377  73
4  Ben SPIES  Yamaha Factory Racing  1:39.495  +0.338  +0.715  61
5  Cal CRUTCHLOW  Monster Yamaha Tech 3  1:39.585  +0.090  +0.805  83
6  Valentino ROSSI  Ducati Team  1:39.733  +0.148  +0.953  90
7  Andrea DOVIZIOSO  Monster Yamaha Tech 3  1:39.860  +0.127  +1.080  72
8  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati Team  1:39.919  +0.059  +1.139  91
9  Alvaro BAUTISTA  San Carlo Honda Gresini  1:40.017  +0.098  +1.237  86
10  Stefan BRADL  LCR Honda  1:40.098  +0.081  +1.318  85
11  Hector BARBERA  Pramac Racing Team  1:40.287  +0.189  +1.507  91
12  Karel ABRAHAM  Cardion AB Motoracing  1:40.579  +0.292  +1.799  88
13  Randy DE PUNIET  Power Electronics Aspar  1:40.601  +0.022  +1.821  71
14  Aleix ESPARGARO  Power Electronics Aspar  1:41.645  +1.044  +2.865  69
15  Danilo PETRUCCI  Came Iodaracing Project  1:41.926  +0.281  +3.146  87
16  Franco BATTAINI  Ducati Team  1:42.057  +0.131  +3.277  85
17  Colin EDWARDS  NGM Mobile Forward Racing  1:42.073  +0.016  +3.293  58
18  Mattia PASINI  Speed Master  1:42.184  +0.111  +3.404  59
19  Michele PIRRO  San Carlo Honda Gresini  1:42.212  +0.028  +3.432  52
20  James ELLISON  Paul Bird Motorsport  1:42.437  +0.225  +3.657  83
21  Ivan SILVA  Avintia Racing MotoGP  1:42.446  +0.009  +3.666  84
22  Yonny HERNANDEZ  Avintia Racing MotoGP  1:42.906  +0.460  +4.126  59