MotoGP news

Stoner fine after fall

Ducati men Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi completed their winter testing schedule at Jerez on Sunday, ending this final three-day session sixth and seventh quickest, separated by just 0.014 seconds. 

Both riders rode their fastest laps on qualifying tyres during the afternoon's 40-minute session, watched by almost 30,000 fans who flocked to the Jerez circuit for a first glimpse of MotoGP's new 800cc machines. 

Stoner fell during the final few minutes, taking a knock on the head which left him with concussion and blurred vision in his left eye. Although MotoGP medic Dr Claudio Costa didn't believe the injuries to be serious he recommended the team take Stoner to Cadiz hospital for a precautionary CAT scan which showed no signs of any problems. 

"The day started out pretty good, we were making the right choices with set-up," said Stoner. "After the dash for the car we tried a race simulation and that didn't go too well, I had a little bit of a glitch in the engine so I had to pull in. After that we tried going out with a different rear tyre which we couldn't get to work and I had a crash at the end. I don't usually like to go out on the track after 5.30, but I wasn't pushing hard, unfortunately it broke away on me quite quickly. Now we need to regroup and go in a different direction for the race here. This has been our worst test for a long time now which isn't too bad because the past couple of days and this morning we had been going well. If this is the worst it's going to be then I'm quite happy with that. I was reasonably happy with the qualifying session, I wasn't aiming at the car. We were there to test some qualifying tyres and I had a really good feeling and sensation with them, so I think the more I ride on them and the better setting we get, the further we can push ourselves up the grid. Now I'm looking forward to going racing - we've been waiting for that for a long time." 

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