Stoner leads Sepang first practice
Casey Stoner showed no signs of backing off as he topped the times in first practice for this weekend's MotoGP round at Sepang in Malaysia
The world champion set the early pace before other riders went faster, but a lap of 2:04.542 with just under ten minutes remaining put the top spot beyond reach.
With twenty minutes remaining in the session, times were relatively slow, six seconds slower than last year's best of 2:00.605, the track having been resurfaced in August this year.
But then the times began to drop, with Suzuki's John Hopkins putting in a 2:05.846, then Honda rider Dani Pedrosa lowered it to a 2:05.716 quickly followed by a 2:05.114 before Stoner put it beyond reach.
Pedrosa's effort was good enough for second fastest at the end of the session, while 2006 MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden just edged out Hopkins for third spot, his time of 2:05.740 almost 1.2 seconds slower than Stoner's best. Continuing on his recent strong form in fifth was Kawasaki rider Randy de Puniet.
In sixth was Alex Barros, just under two seconds off the pace, who headed a group of riders separated by less than half a second, comprised of Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Anthony West, Marco Melandri, Chris Vermeulen and Suzuki 'wildcard' Nobuatsu Aoki.
Konica Minolta's Shinya Nakano crashed during the session, badly damaging the bike, but returned to the circuit on a new bike later on.
Despite having less restrictions on tyres, the two Dunlop-shod bikes of Makoto Tamada and Sylvain Guintoli languished at the bottom of the times in 18th and 20th respectively.
Pos Rider Make Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 2:04.542 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 2:05.114 + 0.572 3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 2:05.740 + 1.198 4. John Hopkins Suzuki (B) 2:05.846 + 1.304 5. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki (B) 2:06.270 + 1.728 6. Alex Barros Ducati (B) 2:06.519 + 1.977 7. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (M) 2:06.613 + 2.071 8. Loris Capirossi Ducati (B) 2:06.631 + 2.089 9. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:06.721 + 2.179 10. Marco Melandri Honda (B) 2:06.872 + 2.330 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 2:06.898 + 2.356 12. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) 2:06.952 + 2.410 13. Toni Elias Honda (B) 2:06.995 + 2.453 14. Carlos Checa Honda (M) 2:07.272 + 2.730 15. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 2:07.695 + 3.153 16. Shinya Nakano Honda (M) 2:07.775 + 3.233 17. Kurtis Roberts KR212V (M) 2:09.324 + 4.782 18. Makoto Tamada Yamaha (D) 2:09.469 + 4.927 19. Chaz Davies Ducati (B) 2:09.892 + 5.350 20. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha (D) 2:10.244 + 5.702
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