Motegi MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo quickest in first practice
Jorge Lorenzo edged out his MotoGP title rival Dani Pedrosa by 0.141 seconds in a close battle in opening practice at Motegi
Lorenzo initially put his Yamaha 0.7s clear of the field, before Pedrosa's Honda got within 0.014s of the benchmark.
A late improvement then stretched Lorenzo's advantage to nearly two tenths of a second, the championship leader lapping in 1m46.558s.
Pedrosa also went quicker, but could only manage a 1m46.699s so had to settle for second.
Casey Stoner marked his return to the second Honda after his injury absence with fourth place. The reigning champion was 0.6s down on team-mate Pedrosa as he assessed his fitness, and also had to make an early switch to his spare bike after electrical problems.
Tech 3 Yamaha's Andrea Dovizioso split the two Hondas in third. Fellow Yamaha men Ben Spies and Cal Crutchlow completed the top six.
The works Ducatis were back in seventh and 10th with Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi.
Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga - who stood in for Lorenzo when he was injured late last year - was 11th on his return to MotoGP action for a one-off guest outing.
Roberto Rolfo has replaced Mattia Pasini on Speed Master's CRT Aprilia. He was 20th fastest.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m46.558s 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m46.699s + 0.141s 3. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 1m46.919s + 0.361s 4. Casey Stoner Honda 1m47.316s + 0.758s 5. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m47.328s + 0.770s 6. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m47.366s + 0.808s 7. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m47.551s + 0.993s 8. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m47.561s + 1.003s 9. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m47.637s + 1.079s 10. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m47.786s + 1.228s 11. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 1m48.390s + 1.832s 12. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati 1m49.106s + 2.548s 13. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m49.160s + 2.602s 14. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m49.265s + 2.707s 15. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m49.354s + 2.796s 16. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 1m50.184s + 3.626s 17. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 1m50.268s + 3.710s 18. Yonny Hernandez Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m50.771s + 4.213s 19. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 1m51.039s + 4.481s 20. Roberto Rolfo Speed Master Aprilia 1m51.225s + 4.667s 21. Ivan Silva Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m52.044s + 5.486s 22. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Suter-BMW 1m52.188s + 5.630s
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