( CNN ) -- Casey Stoner showed he will be a force to be reckoned with at new team Honda by dominating practice for the season-opening MotoGP event in Qatar on Friday , but seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi struggled as he seeks to replace the Australian at Ducati . Repsol Honda claimed the three quickest times in the evening session at the Losail International Circuit , with Stoner 's best of one minute 55:035 seconds heading off Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Italian Andrea Dovizioso . Yamaha 's world champion Jorge Lorenzo was fourth fastest as he beat young American teammate Ben Spies for the first time in three sessions this week . Spanish motorcyclist Hector Barbera , who finished 12th overall last season , was the best of Ducati 's three riders in sixth place . Rossi , who ended a seven-year stint with Yamaha at the end of a 2010 season marred by injuries , was eighth . American Nicky Hayden , who also rode with Rossi at Honda earlier in his career , was back in 14th . `` Today was a bit difficult , because we had hoped to make a bigger improvement , but in the end we did n't lower our time enough , '' Rossi told the Ducati website . `` First of all , my shoulder bothered me a little . I was n't as strong as I was yesterday , and in the end of the session , I could feel it . Also , we still do n't know this bike perfectly and , as happened to us in the test , we get to a point where it 's difficult to make a step forward with the set-up . `` We 're missing half a second with our pace to be in the group where we hope to be Sunday . Anyway , today we tried two set-up solutions that were quite different , and we chose one that we 'll try to refine tomorrow . '' Stoner , the 2007 world champion in motorcycling 's elite class , also set the fastest time in windy conditions in Friday 's opening session of 1:55:457 as he again headed off Pedrosa , with Spies third . Lorenzo was fifth despite the Spaniard suffering problems with his bike which limited his time on the track . Rossi was ninth , with Hayden just behind him . Lorenzo 's compatriot Alvaro Bautista has been ruled out of Sunday 's race after the 26-year-old Suzuki rider suffered a broken leg when he crashed late in Friday 's second session . Qualifying will be held on Saturday evening Qatar time , with Sunday 's race also at night at 1900 GMT .
Honda 's new signing Casey Stoner quickest ahead of qualifying in Qatar . Australian was the fastest in both of Friday 's practice sessions at Losail . Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi was off pace with Stoner 's old team . Italian complains of shoulder pain after finishing eighth for Ducati .