Last week, Ducati super rider and reigning world champion highlighted another achievement in his racing career! The young and bullet-fast Stoner lapped faster than any other rider in Phillip Island’s history with a record-breaking lap of 1′28.777.
Furthermore, according to Ducati Racing News, the World Champion applied a qualifying tire on his 25th of 51 laps and a gas-filled fuel tank - that would be his only speedy lap recorded outside the 1′30 mark. Stoner held up 23 straight fast laps with persistent accuracy.
"We did the race simulation with one of Bridgestone’s new tyres and it went really well, even though we had to come in three laps early. The track temperature today was actually higher than it was for the race here and you could tell. Even so we managed to lap consistently in low 1.30 and that shows how well they’re working in Japan. I’m also really happy with the qualifying tyre, which is the same as last year. It is a good thing that bike is not completely different to 2007 because it has allowed is to find an excellent base to start the season from already. The new version of the engine has a better delivery, especially at the bottom end, and that has allowed me to set fast times more consistently, as well as increasing tyre life. It has been a good test session but now I’m happy to have a couple of weeks to rest and train in the gym. The shoulder feels okay, it is just a little bit weak and sore because I haven’t been able to work on it as much as I would have wanted but now we can do that,” says Casey Stoner with a best time of 1:28.777 (51 laps).
Phillip Island info courtesy of Ducati.com:
Circuit Record: Marco Melandri (Honda - 2005) 1′30.332
Best pole: Nicky Hayden (Honda - 2006) 1′29.020
Fastest lap GP 2007: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1′30.801
Pole 2007: Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1′29.201
Unofficial lap times:
1. Casey STONER (Ducati) 1:28.777 (51 giri)
2. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda) 1:29.734 (102)
3. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:29.754 (89)
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1:29.780 (90)
5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 1:29.795 (56)
6. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1:30.216 (73)
7. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1:30.438 (91)
8. Shinya NAKANO (Honda) 1:30.728 (89)
9. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1:30.966 (97)
10. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 1:30.978 (115)
11. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati) 1:30.983 (58)
12. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati) 1:31.377 (108)
13. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:31.508 (75)
14. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki) 1:31.957 (90)