Stoner dominates final practice
Casey Stoner continued his fine MotoGP practice form and dominated the third and final session ahead of this weekend's maiden race at Aragon
The Ducati man was the first rider to lap below 1m51s and, once on top, he stayed there for the remainder of the 45-minute session, working down from 1m50.912s to 1m50.190s in the first half.
The Australian former champion shaved another few hundredths of a second off his best time in the final three minutes, as if to emphasise his dominance.
He lapped the Spanish circuit in a 1m50.115s best to leave him 0.337 seconds clear of local hero and first practice pacesetter Dani Pedrosa (Honda).
Improvements in the final minute of the session lifted Stoner's Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden to third and Pedrosa's Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso to fourth. Just 0.049s separated this pair, as they wound up just over two tenths adrift of Pedrosa.
Their late flourish dumped championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) to fifth, with American Ben Spies rounding out the top six on the Tech 3 Yamaha.
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) was the only other man to lap below 1m51s. He finished up seventh fastest, ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha man Carl Edwards and the two Gresini Hondas of Marcos Simoncelli and Melandri. Valentino Rossi wound up 11th fastest on his Yamaha.
Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista was the only man to crash during the session, falling at Turn 14 with 15 minutes to go. He was unhurt.Pos Rider Team Time Gap
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m50.115s
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m50.452s + 0.337s
3. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m50.675s + 0.560s
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m50.724s + 0.609s
5. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m50.764s + 0.649s
6. Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha 1m50.843s + 0.728s
7. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m50.986s + 0.871s
8. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m51.242s + 1.127s
9. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m51.397s + 1.282s
10. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 1m51.444s + 1.329s
11. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m51.588s + 1.473s
12. Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 1m51.642s + 1.527s
13. Héctor Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m51.654s + 1.539s
14. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m51.833s + 1.718s
15. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m51.962s + 1.847s
16. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m52.141s + 2.026s
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