Ducati News Today

Yamaha dominated the opening day of the final official MotoGP testing at Jerez, Spain. Yamaha finished with 3 bikes in the top 5. Only 1 of the 6 Ducati’s made it into the top 5.

Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was fastest, only just ahead of his teammate and reigning World Champion, Valentino Rossi. Colin Edwards, still impressive in testing, finished 5th. The only Ducati in the top 5 was Casey Stoner on the factory Marlboro bike, finishing 3rd fastest and just a 1/10th off Lorenzo’s best time. Chris Vermeulen was an impressive 4th fastest on the Rizla Suzuki. The top 4 were all under the lap record set by Rossi in 2005.
Stoner’s teammate, Nicky Hayden, appearing to still be struggling to come to grips with his switch from Honda could only manage 9th fastest and 4 other Ducati’s were further down the field reinforcing the view of some commentators that only Stoner can fully master the difficult to ride Ducati.

Tomorrow the riders will try to set the fastest time to win the BMW M Award session, so we should truly see who has the pace for the 2009 season.

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