Pedrosa tops first practice in France
Dani Pedrosa topped the times in an incredibly close opening session for this weekend's French Grand Prix, saving his best effort until the final minute of first practice
With the series' front-runners well aware there is little to choose between the four men who have won races so far this year, it was the quartet who again were the class of the field at Le Mans as they traded leading times throughout the session.
Pedrosa's best effort of 1:34.646 just edged out Fiat Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo, who was showing no after affects from the injuries he picked up in his sizeable crash in practice for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Behind Lorenzo was his teammate Valentino Rossi, fresh from his victory in Shanghai that has given him renewed confidence in the abilities of his M1 bike.
World champion Casey Stoner, who topped the times twice during the session, ended up fourth fastest - ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards and Rizla Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen.
Andrea Dovizioso was an encouraging seventh quickest, ahead of Shinya Nakano, John Hopkins and James Toseland.
Pos Rider Team Time 1. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1:34.646 2. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1:34.779 + 0.133 3. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1:34.886 + 0.240 4. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1:34.967 + 0.321 5. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1:35.319 + 0.673 6. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:35.502 + 0.856 7. Andrea Dovizioso JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1:35.574 + 0.928 8. Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:35.672 + 1.026 9. John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1:35.743 + 1.097 10. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1:35.874 + 1.228 11. Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:35.968 + 1.322 12. Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:36.059 + 1.413 13. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1:36.134 + 1.488 14. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1:36.144 + 1.498 15. Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team 1:36.359 + 1.713 16. Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1:36.418 + 1.772 17. Toni Elias Alice Team 1:36.756 + 2.110 18. Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1:37.421 + 2.775
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