Honda's Casey Stoner tops first MotoGP practice session in Japan
Casey Stoner made another extremely strong start to a MotoGP weekend as he led a works Honda one-two in opening Motegi practice
Championship leader Stoner's 1m47.393s put him on top just beyond the halfway point of the session, after his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and Gresini Honda's Marco Simoncelli had briefly had turns in front. Stoner then finished the morning by improving to a 1m47.289s to cement his advantage.
Dovisioso remained second, but Honda's hopes of a one-two-three to commence its home weekend were dashed when Ducati's Nicky Hayden blasted through to third - ahead of Honda man Dani Pedrosa - with a minute to go.
World champion Jorge Lorenzo was only fifth for Yamaha.
Simoncelli fell to sixth in the end after crashing late on. He was unhurt in the relatively gentle low-side.
Colin Edwards took seventh for Tech 3 Yamaha, with works Yamaha rider Ben Spies eighth, Hector Barbera (Aspar Ducati) ninth, and Valentino Rossi squeezing his Ducati into the top 10 with his last lap.
At the back, Kousuke Akiyoshi was the quickest of the trio of one-off riders on the LCR Honda, as he, Shinichi Ito (Honda) and Damian Cudlin (Pramac Ducati) found their feet.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Casey Stoner Honda 1m47.289s 2. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m47.566s + 0.277s 3. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m47.732s + 0.443s 4. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m47.836s + 0.547s 5. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m47.912s + 0.623s 6. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m47.942s + 0.653s 7. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m48.169s + 0.880s 8. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m48.197s + 0.908s 9. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m48.406s + 1.117s 10. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m48.667s + 1.378s 11. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 1m48.776s + 1.487s 12. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m48.880s + 1.591s 13. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 1m48.892s + 1.603s 14. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m49.385s + 2.096s 15. Toni Elias LCR Honda 1m49.415s + 2.126s 16. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m49.813s + 2.524s 17. Kousuke Akiyoshi LCR Honda 1m50.688s + 3.399s 18. Shinichi Itoh Honda 1m51.461s + 4.172s 19. Damian Cudlin Pramac Ducati 1m53.218s + 5.929s
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