Rossi fastest in extended warm-up
Valentino Rossi was quickest in an extended warm-up session at a damp but slightly drying Estoril
Sunshine finally returned to Estoril this morning after the constant downpours of recent days - but with heavy rain having fallen overnight as well, the track remained very slippery throughout the warm-up and everyone stuck to wet tyres. With dark clouds still over the circuit, cold temperatures and strong winds persisting, conditions for the race remain hard to predict.
With so much track time having been lost to the weather this weekend, the warm-up was stretched from 20 to 30 minutes. Rossi came out on top for Yamaha with a lap of 1m48.363s, 0.3 seconds ahead of Ducati's Casey Stoner.
Polesitter Jorge Lorenzo had a minor excursion at the first corner but stayed on his Yamaha and took third.
Ben Spies (Tech 3 Yamaha), Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda) and Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) completed the top six, while second-place starter Nicky Hayden was back in ninth on the second factory Ducati.
Pos Rider Team Time Gap 1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m48.363s 2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m48.694s + 0.331s 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m49.221s + 0.858s 4. Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha 1m49.244s + 0.881s 5. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m49.779s + 1.416s 6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m49.843s + 1.480s 7. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 1m50.325s + 1.962s 8. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m50.430s + 2.067s 9. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m50.533s + 2.170s 10. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m51.116s + 2.753s 11. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m51.351s + 2.988s 12. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m51.387s + 3.024s 13. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m52.382s + 4.019s 14. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m53.165s + 4.802s 15. Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 1m53.248s + 4.885s 16. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m53.362s + 4.999s 17. Carlos Checa Pramac Ducati 1m53.511s + 5.148s
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