Lorenzo pips Stoner in Assen practice
Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo maintained his momentum in opening practice for the Dutch TT at Assen, beating Casey Stoner to the fastest time
Stoner had been the first of the frontrunners up to speed, and the Ducati rider led the way for much of the session, while Lorenzo (Yamaha) gradually built up pace.
But going into the closing stages Lorenzo hit the front and started battling for the top spot with Stoner. Both improved several times and did their best laps on their last attempts of the hour, which saw Lorenzo end up on a 1m35.169s, just 0.011 seconds ahead of Stoner.
Ducati had both factory bikes in the top three with Nicky Hayden in third.
The American's compatriot Colin Edwards was a strong fourth for Tech 3 Yamaha, ahead of the two works Hondas.
Seventh was a superb result for Pramac Ducati's Aleix Espargaro, the Spaniard outpacing Silverstone podium finisher Ben Spies (Tech 3 Yamaha) and the Gresini Hondas.
Kousuke Akiyoshi was understandably off the pace as he made his MotoGP return for Interwetten Honda in place of the injured Hiroshi Aoyama. The Honda test rider was 6.2s adrift of Lorenzo, and 4s down on nearest rival Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki).
Pos Rider Team Time Gap 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m35.169s 2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m35.180s + 0.011s 3. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m35.686s + 0.517s 4. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.699s + 0.530s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m35.868s + 0.699s 6. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m35.922s + 0.753s 7. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m35.927s + 0.758s 8. Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.942s + 0.773s 9. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m36.002s + 0.833s 10. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 1m36.269s + 1.100s 11. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m36.294s + 1.125s 12. Hector Barberta Aspar Ducati 1m36.735s + 1.566s 13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m36.786s + 1.617s 14. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m37.261s + 2.092s 15. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m37.384s + 2.215s 16. Kousuke Akiyoshi Interwetten Honda 1m41.332s + 6.163s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Hamilton accepts blame for incident with Albon in F1 Brazilian GP
Ferrari drivers called to F1 stewards over Brazilian GP collision
Will Alonso's Indy failure end the age of versatility?
Racing through injury: What Stroll can learn from past cases
Jorge Lorenzo joins Porsche Supercup grid for 2023
Why a MotoGP legend needs to ditch social media and enjoy retirement
Pedrosa: Acosta proves KTM MotoGP bike 'can help good riders be instantly quick'
F1 chief Domenicali eyes more sprint weekends
MotoGP Spanish GP: Alex Marquez leads Gresini 1-2 in FP1
Six things to watch in BTCC 2024
Can anyone stop "changed" Bagnaia as Ducati tightens its grip on MotoGP?
The signs that MotoGP's Japanese powerhouses are changing for the better
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments