Casey Stoner back on top in final Aragon MotoGP practice
Casey Stoner was fastest in an extended Saturday morning practice session at Motorland Aragon as the MotoGP riders resumed work following Friday's power failure
What should have been third practice was stretched from the usual 45 minutes to 75 minutes, with an earlier start, to make up for some of the time lost when major electricity issues at the track forced the cancellation of yesterday's afternoon session.
Stoner wasted no time when practice got back underway, throwing in a 1m49.485s - a tenth below the lap record - early on.
Honda's championship leader then improved to a 1m49.272s, putting him a second clear of the field, just as he had been for much of Friday morning, and he continued to lap consistently in the 1m49s.
It took a long time before anyone managed to erode Stoner's advantage, with his team-mate Dani Pedrosa chipping away and eventually getting the gap down to just 0.062s with his final lap.
For much of the morning the four works-specification Hondas had filled the top four, but Randy de Puniet showed eye-opening pace again on the Pramac Ducati to take third in the end. Although he had been following Andrea Dovizioso's Honda at the time, de Puniet's 1m50.003s could still not be entirely dismissed.
Dovizioso was fourth at the finish, ahead of Gresini Honda's Marco Simoncelli.
It was a tough morning for Yamaha. Ben Spies recovered from a crash at Turn 2 to take sixth on his second bike, but Jorge Lorenzo was only eighth, behind Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista - who made big strides from his Friday form.
The Ducatis of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden completed the top 10.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Casey Stoner Honda 1m49.272s 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m49.334s + 0.062s 3. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 1m50.003s + 0.731s 4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m50.139s + 0.867s 5. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m50.197s + 0.925s 6. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m50.376s + 1.104s 7. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m50.422s + 1.150s 8. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m50.444s + 1.172s 9. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m50.484s + 1.212s 10. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m50.567s + 1.295s 11. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m50.584s + 1.312s 12. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m50.690s + 1.418s 13. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 1m50.760s + 1.488s 14. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m50.898s + 1.626s 15. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m51.026s + 1.754s 16. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati 1m51.561s + 2.289s 17. Toni Elias LCR Honda 1m51.882s + 2.610s
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