Pedrosa fastest in first practice
Dani Pedrosa delighted the Spanish crowd by setting the fastest time in the opening free practice session at Catalunya
Suzuki's John Hopkins had held the top spot for most of the hour, before Pedrosa moved ahead with ten minutes to go.
The Repsol Honda rider then proceeded to set four laps that would have been fast enough to stand as the quickest of the morning, ending the session on a 1:43.099, nearly half a second clear of the field.
Championship leader Casey Stoner moved up to second in the final minutes, ahead of another Spaniard - Gresini Honda's Toni Elias.
Hopkins was pushed down to fourth, with Loris Capirossi fifth on the second factory Ducati and Valentino Rossi completing the top six.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1:43.099 2. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:43.543 + 0.444 3. Toni Elias Honda 1:43.551 + 0.452 4. John Hopkins Suzuki 1:43.605 + 0.506 5. Loris Capirossi Ducati 1:43.631 + 0.532 6. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:43.705 + 0.606 7. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:43.768 + 0.669 8. Marco Melandri Honda 1:43.816 + 0.717 9. Carlos Checa Honda 1:43.866 + 0.767 10. Alex Barros Ducati 1:44.011 + 0.912 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:44.037 + 0.938 12. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1:44.436 + 1.337 13. Alex Hofmann Ducati 1:44.528 + 1.429 14. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:44.689 + 1.590 15. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 1:44.742 + 1.643 16. Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1:44.815 + 1.716 17. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:44.842 + 1.743 18. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1:45.150 + 2.051 19. Kenny Roberts Jr KR 1:45.467 + 2.368 20. Kurtis Roberts KR 1:45.871 + 2.772
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