Hayden tops Aragon warm-up
Nicky Hayden set the fastest time in the warm-up for this afternoon's maiden MotoGP race at the fledgling Aragon circuit
The American produced a late flourish to top the timesheet in the final seconds of the 20-minute session. His 1m50.339s best proved enough to pip Spanish home hero Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) to the top spot by 0.023 seconds.
Yamaha team-mates Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were third and fourth quickest. Lorenzo feels his bike will struggle against the potent power and acceleration of the leading Ducatis and Hondas in this afternoon's race, while Rossi is carrying the effects of a shoulder injury and has struggled with the set-up of his bike so far this weekend.
Big-haired Italian Marco Simoncelli went fifth quickest on his Gresini Honda, less than a tenth clear of poleman Casey Stoner. The Australian Ducati rider had an early fall and only completed one quick lap, which proved enough to put him top of the timesheet at the mid-way point of the session. He completed only half the number of laps of the other leading runners and was bumped down to sixth as they continued to improve.
Pedrosa's Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso went seventh fastest, just ahead of Pramac Ducati pair Aleix Espargaro and Mika Kallio, while the Suzuki of Alvaro Bautista completed the top 10.
American Tech 3 Yamaha duo Ben Spies and Colin Edwards were 13th and 16th quickest respectively in the 16-bike field. LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet crashed and was 15th.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m50.339s 11 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m50.362s +0.023 10 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m50.464s +0.125 10 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m50.687s +0.348 11 5. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m50.760s +0.421 10 6. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m50.806s +0.467 6 7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m50.896s +0.557 11 8. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m51.090s +0.751 11 9. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m51.272s +0.933 11 10. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m51.273s +0.934 11 11. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 1m51.342s +1.003 11 12. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m51.415s +1.076 9 13. Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha 1m51.437s +1.098 10 14. Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 1m51.660s +1.321 11 15. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m52.308s +1.969 8 16. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m52.498s +2.159 10
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