Roberts Jr. tops opening practice
Kenny Roberts Jr. caused a surprise during opening free practice for this weekend's MotoGP race at Jerez when he topped the times with a late run of quick laps
The American, whose team announced two major new sponsorship deals on the eve of the Spanish race, moved to the top of the timesheets with two minutes of the hour-long session remaining - before bettering his performance on his last lap.
Roberts Jr.'s best lap of 1:41.182 was 0.236 seconds faster than the next quickest rider, Marco Melandri on the Honda Gresini.
The Italian had temporarily been top of the times with his best lap, which came with seven minutes of practice remaining, before Roberts Jr. beat him.
MotoGP championship leader Casey Stoner maintained Ducati Marlboro's impressive early season form with the third quickest time, having been at the top of the timesheets for much of the session.
The Australian, winner of the season opener in Qatar, had been the first rider to set a fast lap and, although Yamaha's Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both temporarily went quickest early on, Stoner reasserted his advantage halfway through the session before Melandri and Roberts Jr. then beat him.
World champion Nicky Hayden enjoyed an encouraging morning to set the fourth quickest time, with the American finally appearing to get comfortable on his RC212V bike.
Toni Elias was fifth fastest for Honda Gresini, with American John Hopkins sixth quickest overall just ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Rossi. Yamaha's Colin Edwards was ninth.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps 1. Kenny Roberts Jr Team Roberts 1:41.182 25 2. Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1:41.418 + 0.236 25 3. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1:41.450 + 0.268 22 4. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1:41.566 + 0.384 28 5. Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1:41.613 + 0.431 23 6. John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:41.860 + 0.678 25 7. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1:41.959 + 0.777 28 8. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1:42.057 + 0.875 26 9. Colin Edwards Fiat Yamaha Team 1:42.078 + 0.896 25 10. Shinya Nakano Konica Minolta Honda 1:42.199 + 1.017 27 11. Carlos Checa Honda LCR 1:42.205 + 1.023 24 12. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:42.269 + 1.087 24 13. Alex Barros Pramac d'Antin 1:42.383 + 1.201 21 14. Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team 1:42.427 + 1.245 23 15. Alex Hofmann Pramac d'Antin 1:42.515 + 1.333 22 16. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki Racing Team 1:42.892 + 1.710 24 17. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki Racing Team 1:42.997 + 1.815 23 18. Sylvain Guintoli Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 1:43.161 + 1.979 24 19. Makoto Tamada Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 1:43.309 + 2.127 25 20. Kousuke Akiyoshi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:44.168 + 2.986 19
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