Edwards tops Estoril final practice
Colin Edwards topped the third free practice session at Estoril, ahead of this afternoon's qualifying for the Portuguese MotoGP
The one-hour session, which started 25 minutes late due to track cleaning problems, saw LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet and Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi exchanging fastest laps before Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden went quickest with 35 minutes to go.
But right at the half-hour point Edwards took top spot with his Tech 3 Yamaha, and bettered that time by over half a second just one lap later, with a time of 1:37.598 which was not beaten for the rest of the session.
In the end Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo got closest just seven hundredths behind the American, with Hayden third a further 0.165 back.
Rossi went fourth quickest 0.265 behind Edwards, followed by championship leader Daniel Pedrosa on Repsol Honda and Tech 3's James Toseland.
JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso ended up seventh, ahead of de Puniet, Kawasaki's John Hopkins, and Rizla Suzuki Chris Vermeulen.
Reigning champion Casey Stoner had to be content with 11th quickest with his Ducati Marlboro, while teammate Marco Melandri finished 18th and last of the pack.
Pos Rider Bike Time Laps 1. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:37.598 26 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:37.668 + 0.070 26 3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:37.833 + 0.235 27 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:37.863 + 0.265 28 5. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:38.016 + 0.418 27 6. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:38.308 + 0.710 26 7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:38.312 + 0.714 25 8. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:38.332 + 0.734 16 9. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:38.508 + 0.910 25 10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:38.590 + 0.992 29 11. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:38.736 + 1.138 20 12. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:38.868 + 1.270 28 13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:39.076 + 1.478 26 14. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:39.749 + 2.151 23 15. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:39.834 + 2.236 25 16. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:39.871 + 2.273 30 17. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:40.647 + 3.049 22 18. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:40.711 + 3.113 23
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