Stoner tops Sepang warm-up
Ducati's Casey Stoner topped the times in the warm-up for today's Malaysian round of the MotoGP championship at Sepang
Stoner went to the top of the times after eleven minutes of the session, and despite being dislodged once by each of the Repsol Honda riders, Stoner reclaimed the fastest time for good with a 2:02.052 with five minutes remaining.
Less than half a second behind Stoner were a pair of Hondas, the Repsol Honda of pole man Dani Pedrosa a tenth ahead of the Gresini Honda of Marco Melandri. Both riders took a turn at the top of the times during the session and look well placed for the race.
After a disappointing qualifying session, Suzuki's John Hopkins was fourth fastest in the warm-up, doing a faster lap than he managed in yesterday's qualifying session, to edge out Nicky Hayden's Honda.
Completing the top ten were five riders on Bridgestone tyres, Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet in sixth ahead of Ducati's Loris Capirossi, Gresini's Toni Elias, Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen and Kawasaki's Anthony West.
After topping the warm-up ten minutes into the session, the early promise for Yamaha's Valentino Rossi faded during the session, only able to set the eleventh fastest time, 1.24 seconds off Stoner's fastest lap, his teammate Colin Edwards right behind him.
Pos Rider Make Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 2:02.052 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 2:02.421 + 0.369 3. Marco Melandri Honda (B) 2:02.530 + 0.478 4. John Hopkins Suzuki (B) 2:02.645 + 0.593 5. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 2:02.689 + 0.637 6. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki (B) 2:02.818 + 0.766 7. Loris Capirossi Ducati (B) 2:02.927 + 0.875 8. Toni Elias Honda (B) 2:02.995 + 0.943 9. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 2:03.034 + 0.982 10. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:03.152 + 1.100 11. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (M) 2:03.292 + 1.240 12. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 2:03.400 + 1.348 13. Alex Barros Ducati (B) 2:03.652 + 1.600 14. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha (D) 2:04.094 + 2.042 15. Carlos Checa Honda (M) 2:04.141 + 2.089 16. Shinya Nakano Honda (M) 2:04.411 + 2.359 17. Chaz Davies Ducati (B) 2:04.445 + 2.393 18. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) 2:04.509 + 2.457 19. Makoto Tamada Yamaha (D) 2:05.551 + 3.499 20. Kurtis Roberts KR212V (M) 2:40.911 +38.859
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