As it has been the case since the beginning of the winter testing, Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi has lead the first test day at the Losail circuit this past Thursday, under the lights.

It was a battle between two world champions as Rossi and Casey Stoner (Ducati), before the Italian finally beat the Australian in the closing minutes of the session.

MotoGP newcomer and 2009 World Superbike champion Ben Spies impressed with the third best time, in front of his teammate at Tech 3, Colin Edwards.

Valentino Rossi (Photo: MotoGP)

The injured Jorge Lorenzo was seventh after only running short stints because of the discomfort from his injured hand.

Friday night’s testing here will be the last chance for teams to accumulate mileage prior to the season opener - also in Qatar - next month.

Qatar Thurday evening testing session
Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m55.402s 64
2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m55.717s + 0.315s 48
3. Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha 1m55.954s + 0.552s 44
4. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m56.540s + 1.138s 59
5. Randy De Puniet LCR Honda 1m56.588s + 1.186s 54
6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m56.811s + 1.409s 65
7. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m56.838s + 1.436s 45
8. Etc.