Lorenzo wins Jerez Moto GP festival

The Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez won't be remembered for the winner - it was Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo in a perfect ride in difficult conditions - but for the number of riders who couldn't cope.
Chief among them was Valentino Rossi, the nine-time World Champion whose ambition outweighed his talent as he entered the first turn on the eighth of 27 laps. Rossi cleaned Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner out of second place with most of the race to run. Stoner was finished and furious, while Rossi remounted to begin a process that would eventually take him to a fifth-place finish.
As soon as the race ended, Rossi, trailed by a huge media horde, made his way to the Repsol Honda garage, where he apologized to Stoner, who, through a wide grin and already in street clothes, was overheard to say that "your ambition outweighed your talent."

Stoner victory in Quatar season opener

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) had a titanic tussle with his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar in the first round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship to snatch 25 points on his debut ride with Repsol Honda. Stoner finished 3.440 seconds ahead of second placed Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing). It had been eight years since a Honda rider won the opening round of the MotoGP season, the last rider to do so was Valentino Rossi in 2003 at Suzuka. Stoner has an impressive record at the Losail International Circuit after winning here in 2008 and 2009. The Australian claimed his 31st win of his career here this evening and his 24th in MotoGP.

Qatar Moto GP qualifying Casey Stoner rules

Casey Stoner's perfect Repsol Honda MotoGP debut continued during Saturday's qualifying session in Qatar, when the #27 held off team-mate Dani Pedrosa to secure his 27th pole. As they have been all weekend, Stoner and Pedrosa were in a class of their own during qualifying, locking out first and second for much of the hour. No other rider held provisional pole after the opening five minutes and Stoner always managed to respond to Pedrosa's improvements, although the final margin between them was a frail 0.205sec.
"We can't ask for a much better weekend, everything has gone well and the team have made all the right steps and gradually improved the bike as the weekend progressed,” said Stoner. “Tonight I was able to achieve good, consistent lap times again on the hard tire and this is important for the race tomorrow.

“As ever, we will keep our feet on the ground as we've had good starts to seasons in the past and then they haven't played out as expected, we just need to keep working and ensure that we continue to progress. We've done all our homework and the best job possible, now I just want to get the season started.”

Casey Stoner fastest time at final practice at Commericalbank Grand Prix of Qatar.

Stoner steals the spotlight in MotoGP FP3. At the Losail International Circuit, the Australian again dominated practice this evening. He recorded the best time of the weekend with a 1’55:035. It was a Repsol Honda one- two-three, with Dani Pedrosa second and Italian Andrea Dovizioso third. The Spaniard was only 0.158 off Stoner’s quickest lap, whilst Dovizioso was a further 0.705 behind.

There was a marked improvement for the current World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) as he got the edge over his team-mate Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) for the first time this weekend. He claimed the fourth quickest time and was very close to the lap time set by third placed Honda.

Moto GP opening night in Qatar

New Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner dominated the first MotoGP track session of the 2011 racing season, at Qatar on Thursday night. The Australian, the man to beat for much of pre-season testing, set a blistering pace from the off - and was over two-seconds clear after just three practice laps of the Losail circuit!
The opposition got closer, but the former Ducati star also made minor improvements throughout the session.
The 2007 world champion's superiority was never threatened and Stoner enjoyed a 0.610sec advantage by the end of the 45-minutes. Stoner's third lap would still have been quick enough to keep him fastest and he was the only rider to lap in the 1min 55sec, with his best a 1min 55.752sec. Stoner had set a 1min 55.681sec during Monday's test.
In a repeat of the Qatar test, Stoner's nearest rival once again proved to be team-mate and 2010 title runner-up Dani Pedrosa.
Hector Barbera produced one of the biggest surprises of the evening by snatching third, after benefiting from a tow behind fellow Ducati rider Nicky Hayden.