NEWS

MOTOGP SEPANG TEST: STONER IMPRESSED WITH NEW MOTOR

05/02/2010

Stoner is a fan of the new, big-bang engine in the 2010 Desmosedici

By David Miller
Image by Ducati Corse

Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner reckons he is happy with the new big-bang engine in his Desmosecidi GP10 and managed to set consistently fast laptimes during the two-daqy Sepang MotoGP test.

The Aussie, who ended the session half a second down on quickest man Valentino Rossi, added that although his laps weren't where he wanted them to be, he was pleased with the pace given the new engine and various other new parts.

“We are quite happy with the test. Today didn’t start really well because of the rain and the wet track, which set us back a few hours, but when it finally did dry out we were able to make some progress," said Stoner.

"We have definitely improved the set-up of the bike, trying some different things with the swingarm. The lap times are still not where we want them to be and we have to work on taking another couple of tenths off on hard tyres, but to be consistently doing 2’01.9 or 2’02.0 laps is a decent pace.

"Considering that we are using a different engine to the one we’ve had for the last three years and some other new parts that we still need to get the best out of we certainly can’t be unhappy with where we’re at.

"There is work to do but we have two more test sessions before the season starts for real. In general I am really pleased with how it’s gone.”

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