Pedrosa fastest in first practice
Dani Pedrosa delighted the Spanish crowd by setting the fastest time in the opening free practice session at Catalunya
Suzuki's John Hopkins had held the top spot for most of the hour, before Pedrosa moved ahead with ten minutes to go.
The Repsol Honda rider then proceeded to set four laps that would have been fast enough to stand as the quickest of the morning, ending the session on a 1:43.099, nearly half a second clear of the field.
Championship leader Casey Stoner moved up to second in the final minutes, ahead of another Spaniard - Gresini Honda's Toni Elias.
Hopkins was pushed down to fourth, with Loris Capirossi fifth on the second factory Ducati and Valentino Rossi completing the top six.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1:43.099 2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:43.543 + 0.444 3. Toni Elias Honda 1:43.551 + 0.452 4. John Hopkins Suzuki 1:43.605 + 0.506 5. Loris Capirossi Ducati 1:43.631 + 0.532 6. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:43.705 + 0.606 7. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:43.768 + 0.669 8. Marco Melandri Honda 1:43.816 + 0.717 9. Carlos Checa Honda 1:43.866 + 0.767 10. Alex Barros Ducati 1:44.011 + 0.912 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:44.037 + 0.938 12. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1:44.436 + 1.337 13. Alex Hofmann Ducati 1:44.528 + 1.429 14. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:44.689 + 1.590 15. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 1:44.742 + 1.643 16. Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1:44.815 + 1.716 17. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:44.842 + 1.743 18. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1:45.150 + 2.051 19. Kenny Roberts Jr KR 1:45.467 + 2.368 20. Kurtis Roberts KR 1:45.871 + 2.772
Share Or Save This Story
Hamilton accepts blame for incident with Albon in F1 Brazilian GP
Ferrari drivers called to F1 stewards over Brazilian GP collision
Will Alonso's Indy failure end the age of versatility?
Why Pedrosa won't replace Vinales at French MotoGP
Pedrosa: "In Stoner I saw things I simply couldn't do"
Toby Moody: Pedrosa bites back
Trackhouse Aprilia set to finalise Raul Fernandez 2027 MotoGP deal
Acosta points out the major flaw in MotoGP's plan to ban front holeshot device mid-season
The bold Ferrari turnaround that enabled Hamilton's Barcelona win
Vital step made towards USA's WRC return
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments