Stoner fastest in warm-up
Championship leader Casey Stoner was fastest in the morning warm-up for the Catalan Grand Prix
The Ducati rider had been full of confidence after qualifying fourth yesterday, believing his race set-up gave him an excellent chance of taking the victory this afternoon.
His best time of 1:42.908 was 0.087 seconds quicker than Randy de Puniet, who continued to show excellent form for Kawasaki. The Frenchman is riding with a severely swollen knee after crashing at Mugello a week ago, but has qualified a career-best second and been in the top two in every session since Saturday morning.
Suzuki's John Hopkins was third quickest, ahead of Stoner's teammate Loris Capirossi, who will start 17th after a disastrous qualifying session. The Italian veteran had to run back to the pits for his spare bike after mechanical problems on his usual machine, then was badly baulked on his remaining laps.
World champion Nicky Hayden took a promising fifth, and was the fastest rider on Michelins, with his Repsol Honda teammate and local favourite Dani Pedrosa seventh behind Chris Vermeulen.
Polesitter Valentino Rossi could only manage ninth position, 1.018 seconds behind his title rival Stoner.
The injured Olivier Jacque, who was taken to hospital for checks after a practice crash yesterday, did not participate in the warm-up and is now considered highly unlikely to start the race.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:42.908 2. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1:42.995 + 0.087 3. John Hopkins Suzuki 1:43.040 + 0.132 4. Loris Capirossi Ducati 1:43.095 + 0.187 5. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:43.447 + 0.539 6. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:43.529 + 0.621 7. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:43.604 + 0.696 8. Toni Elias Honda 1:43.786 + 0.878 9. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:43.926 + 1.018 10. Alex Hofmann Ducati 1:43.952 + 1.044 11. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:44.053 + 1.145 12. Marco Melandri Honda 1:44.262 + 1.354 13. Alex Barros Ducati 1:44.284 + 1.376 14. Carlos Checa Honda 1:44.293 + 1.385 15. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:44.470 + 1.562 16. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1:44.693 + 1.785 17. Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1:44.709 + 1.801 18. Kenny Roberts Jr KR 1:45.924 + 3.016 19. Kurtis Roberts KR 1:46.774 + 3.866
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