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."

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.”

Valentino Rossi Misano test summary

Misano Circuit: Seventy-three days after an operation to his right shoulder, Valentino Rossi returned to the track at Misano Adriatico aboard a Ducati 1198 Superbike. On November 14 at Cattolica's Cervesi hospital, the Italian had undergone surgery on the supraspinatus tendon and the long head of biceps tendon, as well as cartilage in the Glenoid Labrum.

The day was sunny but chilly, with a maximum air temperature of 100x00ba Centigrade (500x00ba Fahrenheit) and a maximum track temperature of 150x00ba C (590x00ba F). Valentino arrived at the circuit at around 1:20 and met a team of Ducati technicians that included his own crew's two engineers, Matteo Flamigni and Gabriele Conti, as well as Ducati Marlboro Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi. A half-hour later, he turned the first laps aboard the 1198 to test the status of his shoulder which, though recovering nicely, is still quite painful, just a few days ahead of the first test in Malaysia with the Desmosedici GP11.

"First of all, thanks to Filippo (Preziosi) and to Ducati, who organized this test," said Valentino Rossi. "Misano Circuit let us use the track on a day when Mattia