Lorenzo tops shortened Brno test
Czech Grand Prix winner Jorge Lorenzo set the pace in Monday's shortened test session at the Brno circuit
The championship leader posted a best time of 1m56.269s to finish over half a second clear of Ducati rival Casey Stoner, second fastest today.
The session was interrupted at 3pm local time because of poor weather.
Lorenzo, riding the new prototype Yamaha, still managed 44 laps and was pleased with his progress.
"This was an important and interesting test for us, both for the rest of the season and looking towards next year," he said. "We had a lot to do but unfortunately the rain forced us to stop early.
"As well as the 'new' prototype machine for next year we also tried an engine upgrade and a new Ohlins suspension, but it's too early to know if they will be better for our M1, which is already very competitive. We got quite a lot of information though so hopefully it will help the engineers to improve things even more."
Stoner tried new components for his Ducati, but the Australian was left lamenting the poor weather.
"We tried a new fork today and as far as we could tell the feeling is positive," Stoner said. "Unfortunately we were only able to get a couple of hours in this morning because immediately after lunch it started to rain and we couldn't complete the test.
"I hung about in the garage in case we got chance to go back out but the track stayed wet and there was no point. Our impressions of the fork are good but really the day was a bit of a waste."
Honda's Dani Pedrosa was third fastest, the Spaniard focusing on improving his race set-up before testing his RC212V with a modified chassis.
Before lunchtime Pedrosa had a low-speed fall at Turn 7, but he was able to return to the track to continue testing in the afternoon.
Valentino Rossi completed the top five with the second Yamaha ahead of Colin Edwards and Ben Spies, who also tried a new Yamaha M1 with no livery.
Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama was back in action following his injuries, the Interwetten-Honda rider finishing as 14th quickest.
Pos Rider Team Time 1. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1:56.269 2. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1:56.844 3. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1:56.944 4. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1:57.129 5. Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:57.512 6. Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:57.575 7. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1:57.691 8. Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:57.700 9. Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 1:57.991 10. Hector Barbera Aspar Team 1:58.017 11. Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:58.070 12. Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:58.091 13. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Green Team 1:58.612 14. Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 1:58.830 15. Mika Kallio Pramac Green Team 1:58.926 16. Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:59.454
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