Under the floodlights at Losail International Circuit, one MotoGP rider was expected to dominate during the final pre-season tests: Valentino Rossi.

And this is just what the nine-time World Champion did during the first day of two during the concluding pre-season test at Qatar; the Italian posted a best time of 1:55.402 on his Fiat Yamaha M1. Rossi completed 64 laps, posting his best time during the final 10 minutes of practice.

“I am so happy today because this isn’t one of our best tracks and to come here and be fastest shows what a great job Yamaha has done with this new M1,” Rossi said. “To start with the track was quite slippery but anyway we were still fast, and as the track started to improve I felt better and better. We are quite competitive and this gives me a good feeling, and I was happy to make this quick lap right at the end…tomorrow we will continue with our work and try to finalize everything before the race.”

Taking second just he did during the first two pre-season tests at Sepang was Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner. The Australian, who is very fast at Qatar considering he won the last three races there, posted a best time of 1:55.717 on his Desmosedici GP10 after running 48 laps.

Although he crashed at turn two during the final part of 44 laps of practice, the rookie Ben Spies was the last rider to post a lap time under the 1:56 mark; the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider posted a 1:55.954, the defending World Superbike Champion just two-tenths slower than Stoner.

The third Yamaha to make it in the top four was Spies teammate and fellow American Colin Edwards; he posted a best time of 1:56.540 after 56 laps.

The only Honda in the top five was LCR rider Randy De Puniet’s RC212V. Although Puniet’s been suffering from an illness lately, he posted a quickest lap time of 1:56.588

The other big news was Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard missed out on the second pre-season tests due to a motocross training accident, but managed to complete 45 laps, with a best lap time of 1:56.838, placing him in seventh. Lorenzo was in severe pain during the practice, and took a trip to Clincia Mobile at one point during the test.

“It’s really good to be back on my bike and actually when I went out on track the first time today my hand felt better than I had expected,” Lorenzo said. “The pain has decreased a lot in the last few days and I’ve been doing a lot of physio to make sure I'm in the best possible shape for this test.”

Qatar Pre-Season Tests, Session One

• 1. Valentino Rossi, Fiat Yamaha Team, 1:55.402, 64 laps
• 2. Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro Team, 1:55.717, 48
• 3. Ben Spies, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1:55.954, 44
• 4. Colin Edwards, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1:56.540, 59
• 5. Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda MotoGP, 1:56.588, 54
• 6. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda Team, 1:56.811, 65
• 7. Jorge Lorenzo, Fiat Yamaha Team, 1:56.838, 45
• 8. Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team, 1:56.855, 77
• 9. Mika Kallio, Pramac Racing Team, 1:56.923, 72
• 10.  Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, 1:57.047, 60
• 11.  Loris Capirossi, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1:57.099, 40
• 12.  Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini, 1:57.605, 63
• 13.  Hector Barbera, Aspar Team, 1:57.822, 62
• 14.  Hiroshi Aoyama, Interwetten-Honda MotoGP, 1:57.888, 75
• 15.  Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini, 1:57.891, 63
• 16.  Aleix Espargaro, Pramac Racing Team, 1:57.898, 67
• 17.  Alvaro Bautista, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1:57.960, 56

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