Valencia GP: Friday Practice Results, MotoGP
In fine sunshine at the Ricardo Tormo circuit on Friday, Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner started the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana weekend in the manner which he hopes will secure a third straight race win as he recorded the best lap time in Free Practice 1.
After overcoming some early dissatisfaction with the response of his Desmosedici GP9, Stoner set a best time of 1’32.813 to leave Jorge Lorenzo second fastest. Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo aims to secure second spot in the World Championship standings this weekend, ahead of Stoner, and he followed the Australian on the timesheet by a margin of 0.382s.
In the wake of his confidence-boosting first wet podium in Malaysia last time out, Dani Pedrosa was third on the timesheet as he kept a close tab on Lorenzo, timing his fastest lap just 0.046s slower.
World Champion Valentino Rossi completed the top four after experiencing a rare run-off midway through the session. The Italian star came in almost half a second ahead of Randy de Puniet, who bounced back from his high-side crash and DNF at Sepang to ride a good session and record the fifth-fastest lap.
Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) all recorded top-ten times in the session as well, with wildcard Ben Spies 15th on his factory Yamaha.
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1’32.813 308.747
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1’33.195 306.556 0.382
3 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1’33.241 310.701 0.428
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1’33.499 307.079 0.686
5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1’33.910 307.167 1.097
6 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1’34.106 309.633 1.293
7 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1’34.123 302.267 1.310
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1’34.382 306.643 1.569
9 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1’34.427 306.469 1.614
10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1’34.462 305.862 1.649
11 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 1’34.696 308.924 1.883
12 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1’34.859 305.862 2.046
13 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1’34.865 300.500 2.052
14 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1’34.873 306.209 2.060
15 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 1’35.052 306.556 2.239
16 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1’35.131 301.591 2.318
17 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1’35.258 305.775 2.445
18 44 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 1’35.458 301.087 2.645
