West surprises in final free practice
Kawasaki rider Anthony West sprung a surprise by setting the fastest time in final free practice for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur
For virtually the whole session, another Australian topped the times in the form of 2007 world champion Casey Stoner, the Ducati rider ultimately setting his best effort of 2:02.120 with 20 minutes of the one-hour session remaining.
But in the dying seconds of the session he was eclipsed by West with a time of 2:02.116, four-thousandths of a second faster than the Ducati.
The top of the order finished closely bunched, with Fiat Yamaha teammates Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Ross, and Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa all less than two-tenths behind West, with Andrea Dovizioso and Shinya Nakano, continuing a strong weekend, just another tenth further back.
Even the gap from seventh to thirteenth was covered by just a quarter of a second, Suzuki's Loris Capirossi leading the way from Nicky Hayden, yesterday's fastest rider Colin Edwards, Randy de Puniet, West's teammate John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen on the second Suzuki, just over three-quarters of a second slower than the fastest time in a tightly-packed session.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:02.116 2. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 2:02.120 + 0.004 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 2:02.231 + 0.115 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 2:02.268 + 0.152 5. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) 2:02.309 + 0.193 6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 2:02.418 + 0.302 7. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 2:02.441 + 0.325 8. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 2:02.638 + 0.522 9. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 2:02.673 + 0.557 10. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 2:02.741 + 0.625 11. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 2:02.776 + 0.660 12. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 2:02.813 + 0.697 13. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 2:02.889 + 0.773 14. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2:03.221 + 1.105 15. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 2:03.263 + 1.147 16. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 2:03.332 + 1.216 17. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 2:03.571 + 1.455 18. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 2:03.724 + 1.608 19. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) 2:05.026 + 2.910
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