STONER HEADS DAY ONE OF MOTOGP 2017
F
ormer double MotoGP World
Champion and current Ducati
Team test rider Casey Stoner
proved he still has the magic,
taking the top spot on day one
of the Sepang test in Malaysia,
January 29.
Stoner rattled off 32 laps in
the sweltering humidity before
rain stopped play late in the day,
finishing with a 1:59.680 lap, a
tenth of a second clear of 2016
Malaysian MotoGP race winner
and Ducati teammate Andrea
Dovizioso (1:59.797).
It was a hugely impressive
performance by Stoner, but he
did have a small advantage in
that he was part of the official
test last week for factory test rid-
ers only, the full-time stars of the
MotoGP grid making their first
appearance on Sunday, January
29.
"Today was positive and the
best thing about it was that we
got a lot of dry track time," said
Stoner. "It's great that we got out
there straightaway this morn-
ing and started putting in some
good laps, reconfirming what
we felt earlier in the week. We
still have a lot more work to do.
It was disappointing that it rained
but hopefully on Wednesday
when we come back on track
we can pick up where we left
off and move this bike further
forward, especially in the chas-
sis area."
With Dovizioso in a safe sec-
ond place, it was long faces on
IN
THE
WIND
P34
Man, that guy is good!
Stoner rocked up and
blew everyone away
to show the world the
Desmosedici is a real
force to be reckoned
with in 2017.
