The second and final evening of MotoGP’s first ever night test at Losail International circuit ended with Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo at the head of the timesheet, courtesy of a time of 1’54.552 on the last of his 73 laps in the seven hour session.
Earlier, Tech3 Yamaha’s James Toseland had been the fastest rider for a sustained period, but reigning 250cc World Champion Lorenzo shaved 0.040s off the Englishman’s best effort with minutes remaining in the floodlit practice, to gain a confidence boosting advantage over his rivals - barely a week before the season commences at the same venue.

Having been second fastest on Thursday on race tyres at the desert circuit Lorenzo continued his good work with his late hot lap, nearly half a second faster than the Losail pole position record, having already completed an excellent race simulation with a series of laps in the 1’56 margin – almost matching Casey Stoner’s 2007 race winning pace.

Although Lorenzo insists his debut MotoGP season is essentially a learning exercise, his performance in the last test session of the winter means he will go into the season opening Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar next weekend confident of a strong result in his first ever premier class race.

Likewise Briton Toseland has made good progress during his preparations for his long awaited MotoGP bow. Having successfully tested suspension parts, worked with various tyres and of course having adapted to night-time riding in the groundbreaking Losail test, he too should be bursting with anticipation ahead of round one, after missing out on Friday night’s top spot by less than a tenth of a second.

Also on the pace in third position - and just 0.381s behind Lorenzo - was Frenchman Randy de Puniet, who has been a strong performer over the winter testing period and appears to be enjoying the Honda-Michelin package at his disposal with his new team Honda LCR.
1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 54.552 secs
2. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Tech 3 (M) 1min 54.592 secs
3. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1min 54.973 secs
4. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Tech 3 (M) 1min 55.464 secs
5. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 55.485 secs
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Scot Team (M) 1min 55.550 secs
7. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 55.674 secs
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 56.119 secs
9. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 56.249 secs
10. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1min 56.256 secs
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 56.450 secs
12. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 56.612 secs
13. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 56.704 secs
14. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 56.792 secs
15. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 56.902 secs
16. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 1min 56.986 secs
17. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 1min 57.055 secs
18. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 57.459 secs