Casey StonerMotoGP champion Casey Stoner set the pace in the
opening practice session of the season in Qatar, but only after
a tough battle with the Yamahas.  With Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha
just behind the Australian's Honda in second and Nicky Hayden
putting his Ducati third, all three works teams had a presence
in the top three at the end of the close-fought session.  Ben
Spies had set the pace for most of the first half of practice on
the other works Yamaha, before his 1m57.606s was pipped by just
0.005sec by the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha of Cal Crutchlow. Spies
regained the top spot with a 1m57.285s six minutes later, though
he was then swiftly deposed by a 1m57.256s from Stoner.  The
final few minutes saw a flurry of changes, as first Spies
returned to the head of the list with a 1m56.982s, then Lorenzo
popped up to first on a 1m56.648s, before Stoner delivered an
unbeatable 1m56.474s. Hayden had briefly been second behind
Lorenzo, before Stoner's time pushed them back to second and
third, ahead of Spies.  Da