Phillip Island MotoGP: Casey Stoner still untouchable in practice three
Casey Stoner continued his absolute dominance of his home MotoGP weekend with another astonishing performance in final practice at Phillip Island
The Honda rider again shrugged off the ankle injury that has limited his recent form and produced a string of ever-faster laps at the head of the field.
Stoner eventually reached a 1m29.665s, putting him a second clear of nearest rival Jorge Lorenzo.
With Stoner looking utterly out of reach even before qualifying, Lorenzo's focus will be on championship rival Dani Pedrosa.
In practice three at least, the Yamaha man was able to beat his Honda adversary by three tenths of a second as they lined up second and third.
The Tech 3 Yamaha duo completed the top five. Cal Crutchlow was ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, who had a minor fall.
Alvaro Bautista shrugged off a messy brush with a seagull to go sixth quickest.
Randy de Puniet took Aspar's CRT Aprilia to a giantkilling seventh. Stefan Bradl, Valentino Rossi and Karel Abraham were next up.
The session's other incident was a crash for Hector Barbera. The Pramac rider was 13th at the finish.
Local rider Kris McLaren, standing in for the injured Yonny Hernandez at Avintia, looks like he will be hard-pressed to qualify as he lapped 6.5s off the pace and 1.8s down on team-mate Ivan Silva.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Casey Stoner Honda 1m29.665s 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m30.684s + 1.019s 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m30.981s + 1.316s 4. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m31.197s + 1.532s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 1m31.438s + 1.773s 6. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m31.635s + 1.970s 7. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m31.651s + 1.986s 8. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m31.821s + 2.156s 9. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m32.058s + 2.393s 10. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m32.081s + 2.416s 11. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m32.141s + 2.476s 12. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m32.366s + 2.701s 13. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati 1m33.185s + 3.520s 14. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Suter-BMW 1m33.586s + 3.921s 15. Roberto Rolfo Speed Master Aprilia 1m33.911s + 4.246s 16. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 1m34.108s + 4.443s 17. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 1m34.183s + 4.518s 18. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 1m34.303s + 4.638s 19. Ivan Silva Avintia BQR-Kawasaki 1m34.407s + 4.742s 20. Kris McLaren Avintia BQR-Kawasaki 1m36.251s + 6.586s
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