Pedrosa tops first practice in France

Dani Pedrosa topped the times in an incredibly close opening session for this weekend's French Grand Prix, saving his best effort until the final minute of first practice

With the series' front-runners well aware there is little to choose between the four men who have won races so far this year, it was the quartet who again were the class of the field at Le Mans as they traded leading times throughout the session.

Pedrosa's best effort of 1:34.646 just edged out Fiat Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo, who was showing no after affects from the injuries he picked up in his sizeable crash in practice for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Behind Lorenzo was his teammate Valentino Rossi, fresh from his victory in Shanghai that has given him renewed confidence in the abilities of his M1 bike.

World champion Casey Stoner, who topped the times twice during the session, ended up fourth fastest - ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards and Rizla Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen.

Andrea Dovizioso was an encouraging seventh quickest, ahead of Shinya Nakano, John Hopkins and James Toseland.

Pos Rider                Team                       Time              
 1. Dani Pedrosa         Repsol Honda Team          1:34.646
 2. Jorge Lorenzo        Fiat Yamaha Team           1:34.779   + 0.133
 3. Valentino Rossi      Fiat Yamaha Team           1:34.886   + 0.240
 4. Casey Stoner         Ducati Marlboro Team       1:34.967   + 0.321
 5. Colin Edwards        Tech 3 Yamaha              1:35.319   + 0.673
 6. Chris Vermeulen      Rizla Suzuki MotoGP        1:35.502   + 0.856
 7. Andrea Dovizioso     JiR Team Scot MotoGP       1:35.574   + 0.928
 8. Shinya Nakano        San Carlo Honda Gresini    1:35.672   + 1.026
 9. John Hopkins         Kawasaki Racing Team       1:35.743   + 1.097
10. James Toseland       Tech 3 Yamaha              1:35.874   + 1.228
11. Loris Capirossi      Rizla Suzuki MotoGP        1:35.968   + 1.322
12. Alex de Angelis      San Carlo Honda Gresini    1:36.059   + 1.413
13. Randy de Puniet      LCR Honda MotoGP           1:36.134   + 1.488
14. Nicky Hayden         Repsol Honda Team          1:36.144   + 1.498
15. Marco Melandri       Ducati Marlboro Team       1:36.359   + 1.713
16. Anthony West         Kawasaki Racing Team       1:36.418   + 1.772
17. Toni Elias           Alice Team                 1:36.756   + 2.110
18. Sylvain Guintoli     Alice Team                 1:37.421   + 2.775