Stoner heads Phillip Island warm-up
Ducati's Casey Stoner returned to the top of the times in warm-up for today's Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island
Stoner topped the times early in the session, and apart from a brief time at the top for Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, he spent the rest of the session on top of the times as he lowered his early mark three times, eventually setting a best of 1:30.860 after the chequered flag fell.
Rossi was his closest challenger however, just under half a second slower than the Australian. Just 0.027 of a second behind Rossi was Randy de Puniet on his Kawasaki, both riders consistently setting times in the top three throughout the session.
2006 champ Nicky Hayden, Pramac D'Antin's Alex Barros, pole man Dani Pedrosa and Gresini Honda rider Marco Melandri comprised the next group of riders, less than a second off Stoner's pace and in touch with Rossi and de Puniet's efforts.
Completing the top ten were Anthony West on his Kawasaki, Ducati's Loris Capirossi and Suzuki rider John Hopkins, finding more competitive pace than in qualifying but still nearly 1.4 seconds off the fastest time of the session.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:30.860 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (M) 1:31.335 + 0.475 3. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki (B) 1:31.362 + 0.502 4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:31.454 + 0.594 5. Alex Barros Ducati (B) 1:31.561 + 0.701 6. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:31.609 + 0.749 7. Marco Melandri Honda (B) 1:31.703 + 0.843 8. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:31.883 + 1.023 9. Loris Capirossi Ducati (B) 1:32.129 + 1.269 10. John Hopkins Suzuki (B) 1:32.234 + 1.374 11. Carlos Checa Honda (M) 1:32.259 + 1.399 12. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha (D) 1:32.380 + 1.520 13. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:32.573 + 1.713 14. Toni Elias Honda (B) 1:32.707 + 1.847 15. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:32.843 + 1.983 16. Chaz Davies Ducati (B) 1:32.895 + 2.035 17. Shinya Nakano Honda (M) 1:33.799 + 2.939 18. Makoto Tamada Yamaha (D) 1:34.062 + 3.202 19. Kurtis Roberts KR212V (M) 1:34.819 + 3.959
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