Stoner fastest in first practice
Championship leader Casey Stoner led the way in the opening free practice session at a wet Donington Park
Although sunshine appeared in the final minutes of the hour, the track remained soaked throughout the session, with heavy rain falling for most of the morning.
Stoner took the top spot just before the chequered flag with a 1:43.749, with reigning champion Nicky Hayden improving to take second, 0.032 seconds behidn Stoner, shortly afterwards.
That pushed Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet, who had held first position several times during the session, down to third.
Chris Vermeulen fell on the exit of the final hairpin on his first lap, but recovered to lead the times briefly with 20 minutes to go, before eventually ending up fourth.
When conditions were at their worst early on, Dani Pedrosa and new Kawasaki signing Anthony West had been comfortably fastest - with renowned wet weather specialist West making good use of his smooth riding style to repeatedly top the times on his return to MotoGP.
Pedrosa twice went off the road as the session progressed, but was able to stay upright and continue each time. He ultimately took fifth, with West a still impressive eighth, behind Alex Barros and Valentino Rossi.
Rossi did not feature at the top of the times and went off at McLeans early on, falling while in the gravel but getting back on the bike and returning to the pits.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:43.749 2. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:43.781 + 0.032 3. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1:44.302 + 0.553 4. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:45.064 + 1.315 5. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:45.073 + 1.324 6. Alex Barros Ducati 1:45.774 + 2.025 7. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:45.825 + 2.076 8. Anthony West Kawasaki 1:45.922 + 2.173 9. John Hopkins Suzuki 1:46.048 + 2.299 10. Alex Hofmann Ducati 1:46.254 + 2.505 11. Toni Elias Honda 1:46.777 + 3.028 12. Carlos Checa Honda 1:47.027 + 3.278 13. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:47.083 + 3.334 14. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:47.646 + 3.897 15. Loris Capirossi Ducati 1:47.727 + 3.978 16. Kurtis Roberts KR 1:48.776 + 5.027 17. Marco Melandri Honda 1:48.831 + 5.082 18. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1:49.604 + 5.855 19. Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1:51.864 + 8.115
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
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