Buzzin MotoGP

Casey Stoner

The annual BMW M Award event took place at Jerez on Sunday at this weekends official test with Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro claiming the brand new BMW 135i for the fastest lap of the session.

Stoner set a time of 1:38.646 seconds aboard his Desmosedici GP9 machine with only 10 minutes of the session remaining and shortly before the rain began.

It’s the second year running for Stoner who was followed by Valentino Rossi, the 2007 winner on the Fiat Yamaha, and Rizla Suzuki riders Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen in third and fourth respectively.

The second Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took fifth place with an impressive Mika Kallio for the Pramac Racing team on his tail to take sixth, despite a trip off track earlier in the session.

Andrea Dovizioso was seventh for the Repsol Honda team ahead of Sete Gibernau on the Grupo Francisco Hernando Satellite bike, Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini and Colin Edwards on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3.

James Toseland, the second Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, suffered a massive highside with only 15 minutes of the session remaining, bringing out the red flag while he was attended to by the medical team.  He was stretched off track and taken to the circuits Clinica Mobile, where it was announced that he was not seriously injured but was heavily bruised.  It has since been confirmed that the 28-year-old rider has broken the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot as well as badly spraining his right ankle,  multiple bruising and concussion.

None of the injuries, however, should stop Toseland from being on the grid at the opening round of the MotoGP Championship in Qatar on April 12, and he will want to make it up to his team after admitting that he felt the accident was his fault as he was lacking temperature in his rear tyre.