Pedrosa leads in first practice

Dani Pedrosa got his home race off to a good start with the fastest time in first free practice session for the Grand Prix of Catalunya

The factory Honda rider's fastest lap of 1:43.691 could not be beaten, despite late efforts from Valentino Rossi, who is sporting new colours for the weekend in honour of the Italian national football side.

Jorge Lorenzo was third quickest on the Michelin-shod Yamaha ahead of Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen, who moved up to fourth with his last lap of the session.

Colin Edwards did a similar thing to go fifth on the fastest of the Tech 3 Yamahas, while Alex de Angelis once again showed his pace for Gresini in sixth.

Andrea Dovizioso was seventh ahead of Casey Stoner, who fell during the session, with Loris Capirossi and James Toseland completing the top 10.

Randy de Puniet and Tony Elias both had big crashes at Turn Three, both appearing to lose control in a puddle left on the kerb by overnight rain. Elias's Ducati was utterly destroyed as it catapulted end over end in the gravel trap.

Pos Rider                Bike        Time         Gap
 1. Dani Pedrosa         Honda       1:43.691
 2. Valentino Rossi      Yamaha      1:43.835  +0.144
 3. Jorge Lorenzo        Yamaha      1:43.961  +0.270
 4. Chris Vermeulen      Suzuki      1:43.968  +0.277
 5. Colin Edwards        Yamaha      1:43.971  +0.280
 6. Alex de Angelis      Honda       1:44.021  +0.330
 7. Andrea Dovizioso     Honda       1:44.163  +0.472
 8. Casey Stoner         Ducati      1:44.245  +0.554
 9. Loris Capirossi      Suzuki      1:44.251  +0.560
10. James Toseland       Yamaha      1:44.263  +0.572
11. John Hopkins         Kawasaki    1:44.291  +0.600
12. Shinya Nakano        Honda       1:44.378  +0.687
13. Randy de Puniet      Honda       1:44.388  +0.697
14. Nicky Hayden         Honda       1:44.482  +0.791
15. Marco Melandri       Ducati      1:44.649  +0.958
16. Anthony West         Kawasaki    1:45.416  +1.725
17. Sylvain Guintoli     Ducati      1:45.474  +1.783
18. Toni Elias           Ducati      1:46.064  +2.373