The scene for the 2009 finale for the MotoGP riders is set in Valencia,
Spain and it did not take long to kick-start this weekend's competition
on the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo.
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Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro Team. Photo by Ducati Corse.
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Casey Stoner, the victor in the last two races, having made a remarkable
comeback after missing three races due to loss of stamina (anemia),
ended up in today's practice on top of the charts.
"We didn't start out with a very effective base setting and I didn't
have a good feeling for the first few laps," Stoner said. "Basically
we didn't have enough weight on the front and because of the track
conditions it was difficult to get heat into the tyre, especially on the
right side because there aren't many right turns here. We knew what we
needed to from the bike so I kept coming in and making small adjustments
until we found it."
Neither he nor Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa are in the Champion
contest, the Doctor wrapped up the title in Malaysia. A top finish, just
for bragging rights before the Winter is what's at stake, plus the final
points of the season.
On the 4.051 km (2.517 mi) circuit with its long front straight for a
short track, Stoner chose to switch out his rear tire to the harder
compound and turned a lap of 1:32.813 on his Marlboro Ducati. The
Australian was the only rider to turn a lap under 1:33.
"It's quite good, we still need to improve a lot but I'm really pleased
with the job we did today and if we can make the improvements we have
planned for tomorrow then we'll be in a very good situation," said
Stoner.
Nearly four-tenths of a second adrift of Stoner was Lorenzo who elected
to leave on the softer Bridgestone for today's practice runs. The
Spaniard, who truly aims to win on his home turf, turned his best lap
at 1:33.195 on his Fiat Yamaha. Lorenzo has the points lead for the
sub-championship over Stoner and Pedrosa.
Third fastest in the hour long session was the other homeland favorite,
Pedrosa. He too switched to the harder rear tire and just missed taking
the second fastest time of the day. Pedrosa, on his Repsol Honda, had a
1:33.241; just 0.046 adrift of his countryman, Lorenzo.
Like his teammate, Valentino Rossi stayed on the softer rear tires and
was fourth fastest. The Italian has the crown already but closing out
the season on top is what the Doctor will aim for on Sunday. Rossi's
best was a 1:33.499.
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Ben Spies, Yamaha Factory Racing. Photo by Yamaha Motor Racing.
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Riding for the first time in a MotoGP event is Ben Spies. The American
notched the World Superbike championship this year as a rookie and
instead of waiting another year, Yamaha factory elected to move Spies
into MotoGP series in 2010 with the Yamaha Tech 3 team.
Under the Yamaha Factory Racing banner for the MotoGP season finale,
Spies took his first steps today learning the handling, the power and
what will be his best setup for the Valencian circuit. While he was more
than two seconds off of Stoner's pace, it was a good session for the
rookie.
All the riders were on the soft front Bridgestone tires and with the
cooler temperatures this late in the season, the key was to find the
proper grip, along with the best performance.
The usual top four seemed to have no problems and without doubt, one of them
will land the pole in Saturday's qualifying, which will be held at
approximately the same timeframe as today's practice.
At 1:55pm (local time), the riders will take to the demanding technical
circuit to see who will end up with the final pole in 2009.
