Lorenzo quickest in first practice
Jorge Lorenzo's momentum showed no signs of waning as he topped the opening practice session for his second home race of 2010 at a sweltering Catalunya
The Yamaha rider and runaway championship leader swapped the top spot with LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet early on before pulling clear. He was later challenged - and briefly headed by - Casey Stoner, before moving back ahead of the Ducati with a 1m43.4s, which he later improved to a benchmark 1m43.259s.
Stoner progressed to a 1m43.631s with his final run to secure second, ahead of the two Hondas. Dani Pedrosa's last lap got him in front of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso for third.
Ben Spies (Tech 3 Yamaha) languished near the foot of the times as he learned the circuit before leaping to fifth right at the end.
Pramac Ducati's Aleix Espargaro was a top ten factor throughout, and ended up an outstanding sixth, pushing de Puniet back to seventh.
It was a quiet session for Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati. As low as 14th for much of the afternoon, he eventually got up to eighth. Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda) completed the top ten.
Alvaro Bautista showed Suzuki's best form for several events by holding a top six place at first, before crashing. He was able to walk back to the pits and rejoin, but fell to 12th.
Marco Melandri completed 22 laps as he evaluated his shoulder after dislocating it at Assen a week ago. The Gresini Honda rider was 14th but just 1.5s off the pace.
Valentino Rossi's substitute Wataru Yoshikawa was unsurprisingly slowest as he acclimatised to his sudden elevation into MotoGP. He was within 4.7s of the pace, though, after a long battle with fellow stand-in Kousuke Akiyoshi, making another appearance for Interwetten Honda while Hiroshi Aoyama recovers from his Silverstone crash.
Pos Rider Team Time Gap 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m43.259s 2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m43.412s + 0.153s 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m43.631s + 0.372s 4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m43.725s + 0.466s 5. Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha 1m43.854s + 0.595s 6. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m44.136s + 0.877s 7. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m44.196s + 0.937s 8. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m44.440s + 1.181s 9. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m44.551s + 1.292s 10. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m44.634s + 1.375s 11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m44.641s + 1.382s 12. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m44.692s + 1.433s 13. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m44.745s + 1.486s 14. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 1m44.806s + 1.547s 15. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m45.004s + 1.745s 16. Kousuke Akiyoshi Interwetten Honda 1m47.757s + 4.498s 17. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha 1m48.015s + 4.756s
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