Qatar MotoGP: Britain's James Toseland claims third spot in second practice

Britain’s James Toseland has finished in an amazing third place after this evening’s second practice in Qatar.

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider had been lying fourth early on before heading to the pits, but on his return to the track he posted a 1:55.812 which knocked over 0.7secs off his best time from the first practice.

Casey Stoner managed to top the timesheets again tonight and knocked nearly half a second off his best time from earlier on in the process.

The Ducati factory rider stayed in the pits for a long time at the beginning of the session to see what he was up against.

Stoner’s best time was set on his 12th lap of his 17 lap stint at 1:55.442.

Jorge Lorenzo was once again second fastes with a best time of 1:55.453.

The Factory Yamaha rider was also nearly half a second quicker than earlier on and had a much better practice than team-mate Valentino Rossi who could only manage to put himself in ninth.

Rossi’s best time was 1:56.395, flanked by the Rizla Suzuki pairing of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, with Vermeulen shaving off more than 1.5secs off his earlier time.

Dani Pedrosa’s session was brought to an early end after the Repsol Honda rider was involved in an incident with Valentino Rossi.

This meant the Spaniard, who won at the last race of the season in Valencia, could only post a best time of 1:56.962 and 15 laps.

Another rider to take a trip to the gravel trap was Kawasaki’s Anthony West. The Aussie high-sided his ZX-RR near the end of the hour-long session.

Qatar MotoGP second practice results:

1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1’55.442
2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1’55.453
3 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 1’55.812
4 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 1’55.942
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA 1’55.963
6 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1’56.120
7 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 1’56.234
8 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1’56.279
9 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1’56.395
10 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1’56.922
11 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1’56.962
12 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1’57.011
13 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1’57.045
14 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1’57.091
15 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team DUCATI 1’57.311
16 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1’57.416
17 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1’57.934
18 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team DUCATI 1’58.500