Stoner dominates morning warm-up
2007 world champion Casey Stoner dominated the morning warm-up, setting a time over a second faster than his nearest rivals for today's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island
The Australian set a blistering pace, setting a time in the warm-up that would have qualified him ninth on the grid. Behind him, the rest of the field were closely bunched, with the second to fifteenth fastest times covered by less than a second.
Leading the chasing pack were four Hondas led by Alex de Angelis, followed by Andrea Dovizioso, Randy de Puniet and the factory bike of Nicky Hayden who will start on the outside of the front row.
After his heavy fall in qualifying yesterday, Yamaha's Valentino Rossi was able to set the sixth-fastest time, a tenth of a second ahead of Dani Pedrosa, with Colin Edwards, James Toseland and Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo just behind.
After a disappointing performance in qualifying, Stoner's teammate Marco Melandri put in a more encouraging performance this morning, thirteenth fastest and just eight tenths of a second off the second-fastest time.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:29.707 2. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:30.829 + 1.122 3. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:30.862 + 1.155 4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:30.946 + 1.239 5. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:30.960 + 1.253 6. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:30.978 + 1.271 7. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) 1:31.079 + 1.372 8. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:31.082 + 1.375 9. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:31.129 + 1.422 10. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:31.187 + 1.480 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:31.316 + 1.609 12. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:31.505 + 1.798 13. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:31.637 + 1.930 14. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:31.666 + 1.959 15. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:31.726 + 2.019 16. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:31.986 + 2.279 17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:32.506 + 2.799 18. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:33.297 + 3.590
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