Jorge Lorenzo tops fog-hit Laguna Seca MotoGP practice

Heavy fog not only restricted visibility but also affected track conditions, meaning the first half hour was an effective write-off.

Only three men ventured out during that time, with wildcard entrant Steve Rapp at least providing the fans with some cheer as his Kawasaki-powered Attack Performance CRT bike vied with Aleix Espargaro (Aspar) and James Ellison (Paul Bird) for top spot.

When Rapp got down to a 1m27.486s, faster than he went on Friday, it finally served notice to the rest of the pitlane that track conditions were good enough to interest them.

Breaking away from impromptu pitlane interviews and meetings, they slowly filtered out, with Yamaha's Ben Spies leading the way. The American eventually wound up second, behind Lorenzo.

He could not really hold a candle to the Spaniard however, with Lorenzo underlining his dominance by setting a 1m21.445s as the chequered flag waved.

Ducati took third and fifth in the hands of Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi, although such form was tempered by Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa's decision not to go out at all. The Spaniard in particular has been in fine form, topping both Friday sessions.

Tech 3 Yamaha's Andrea Dovizioso shared a similar sentiment until the final minutes, when he escaped to set the 20th fastest time.

Team-mate Cal Cruthclow meanwhile ended fourth, ahead of Rossi, LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl and Gresini's Alvaro Bautista.

With caution prevailing there was only one accident, Ivan Silva losing the front of his bike at the Corkscrew in the final minute.

Pos  Rider             Team/Bike                 Time       Gap
 1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha                    1m21.445s
 2.  Ben Spies         Yamaha                    1m22.268s  + 0.823s
 3.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati                    1m22.688s  + 1.243s
 4.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha             1m23.021s  + 1.576s
 5.  Valentino Rossi   Ducati                    1m23.294s  + 1.849s
 6.  Stefan Bradl      LCR Honda                 1m23.832s  + 2.387s
 7.  Alvaro Bautista   Gresini Honda             1m24.189s  + 2.744s
 8.  Randy de Puniet   Aspar Aprilia             1m24.398s  + 2.953s
 9.  Aleix Espargaro   Aspar Aprilia             1m24.506s  + 3.061s
10.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Ducati            1m24.572s  + 3.127s
11.  Yonny Hernandez   Avintia FTR-Kawasaki      1m24.749s  + 3.304s
12.  Mattia Pasini     Speed Master Aprilia      1m25.244s  + 3.799s
13.  Toni Elias        Pramac Ducati             1m25.438s  + 3.993s
14.  Danilo Petrucci   Ioda-Aprilia              1m26.283s  + 4.838s
15.  Colin Edwards     Forward Suter-BMW         1m26.315s  + 4.870s
16.  James Ellison     Paul Bird Aprilia         1m26.488s  + 5.043s
17.  Ivan Silva        Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki  1m27.067s  + 5.622s
18.  Steve Rapp        Attack-Kawasaki           1m27.486s  + 6.041s
19.  Michele Pirro     Gresini FTR-Honda         1m27.778s  + 6.333s
20.  Andrea Dovizioso  Tech 3 Yamaha             1m33.726s  + 12.281s
21.  Casey Stoner      Honda
22.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda