Stoner tops final practice
Ducati's Casey Stoner topped the times in this morning's final practice session for the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang
Stoner was fast early in the session, as he swapped fastest time with Suzuki rider John Hopkins. With just under half the session remaining, Stoner took back fastest time from Hopkins, and then lowered it again on the next lap to a 2:02.291, which stood for the remainder of the session.
Second fastest in today's session was the rider fastest in Friday's second session, Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet, who just edged out Hopkins with a time a quarter of a second slower than Stoner's.
Both riders came under threat of falling down the order late in the session however, with 2006 MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden and de Puniet's Australian teammate Anthony West both setting times less than a tenth slower than de Puniet after the chequered flag had fallen to finish the session fourth and fifth.
Another rider to set a fast lap late in the session was Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias, who jumped up from nowhere to fourth with a minute remaining, dropping to sixth after Hayden and West's flyers.
Valentino Rossi looked set to move further up the order on his final lap but failed to improve and was seventh fastest, half a second slower than Stoner, with Marco Melandri, Dani Pedrosa and Sylvain Guintoli completing the top ten.
Just outside the top ten in 11th, 12th and 13th are a trio of factory riders - Chris Vermeulen, Colin Edwards and Loris Capirossi.
Pos Rider Make Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 2:02.291 2. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki (B) 2:02.534 + 0.243 3. John Hopkins Suzuki (B) 2:02.557 + 0.266 4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 2:02.589 + 0.298 5. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:02.627 + 0.336 6. Toni Elias Honda (B) 2:02.697 + 0.406 7. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (M) 2:02.838 + 0.547 8. Marco Melandri Honda (B) 2:03.021 + 0.730 9. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 2:03.120 + 0.829 10. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha (D) 2:03.217 + 0.926 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 2:03.234 + 0.943 12. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 2:03.420 + 1.129 13. Loris Capirossi Ducati (B) 2:03.638 + 1.347 14. Alex Barros Ducati (B) 2:03.850 + 1.559 15. Carlos Checa Honda (M) 2:04.036 + 1.745 16. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) 2:04.322 + 2.031 17. Chaz Davies Ducati (B) 2:04.483 + 2.192 18. Makoto Tamada Yamaha (D) 2:04.914 + 2.623 19. Shinya Nakano Honda (M) 2:05.210 + 2.919 20. Kurtis Roberts KR212V (M) 2:05.691 + 3.400
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