Ben Spies quickest in damp first practice at Estoril
Ben Spies was quickest for Yamaha in a damp first practice session for MotoGP's Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril
For the second week in succession, Friday morning practice saw little activity as Jerez's tricky conditions were replicated in Portugal.
With the track never fully wet but too tricky for slicks until the closing minutes, for most of the morning the spectators just had a handful of CRT bikes to watch.
Spies was among the first of the big names to emerge, and by the end of the session 19 riders had been out to at least assess the conditions.
Nicky Hayden was quickest ahead of Valentino Rossi as the chequered flag fell, but Spies was still out on a quicker lap and came through with a 1m40.813s to deny Ducati a one-two.
Casey Stoner was fourth on the fastest Honda, followed by Gresini's Alvaro Bautista and the Tech 3 Yamahas.
Spies' championship leading team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was among those who chose to stay in the pits.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m40.813s 2. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m41.086s + 0.273s 3. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m41.502s + 0.689s 4. Casey Stoner Honda 1m41.943s + 1.130s 5. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m42.230s + 1.417s 6. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m42.291s + 1.478s 7. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 1m42.343s + 1.530s 8. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m43.078s + 2.265s 9. Yonny Hernandez Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m43.256s + 2.443s 10. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m43.265s + 2.452s 11. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m43.277s + 2.464s 12. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 1m43.511s + 2.698s 13. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m43.527s + 2.714s 14. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 1m44.909s + 4.096s 15. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Aprilia 1m45.148s + 4.335s 16. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m45.636s + 4.823s 17. Mattia Pasini Speed Master Aprilia 1m46.004s + 5.191s 18. Ivan Silva Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki 1m46.271s + 5.458s 19. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 1m52.429s + 11.616s 20. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati 21. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha
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