Stoner fastest in morning practice
Casey Stoner was quickest in the morning test prior to today's BMW M Award qualifying simulation at Jerez
The Ducati rider set his benchmark 1m39.804s time on only his fourth lap of the morning, and remained uncatchable for the rest of the session.
Stoner had initially been over a second clear of the field, but as testing progressed the Yamahas closed in. Jorge Lorenzo eventually took second place, 0.383s behind Stoner, and remained the fastest man of the weekend so far as his Saturday time was a tenth of a second quicker than Stoner managed this morning.
World champion Valentino Rossi was pushed back to third when his team-mate Lorenzo improved in the final minutes.
Andrea Dovizioso showed better form on the factory Honda to take fifth place, splitting the two Suzukis, but remained a second off the pace.
Marco Melandri continued Hayate Kawasaki's promising test by taking eighth, behind his Ducati replacement Nicky Hayden and ahead of Sete Gibernau's satellite Ducati and the two Tech 3 Yamahas.
After an hour-long lunch break, the day's action continues with the televised qualifying session nicknamed 'GP Zero' and then the final three hours of winter testing.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:39.804 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1:40.187 + 0.383 3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:40.252 + 0.448 4. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1:40.330 + 0.526 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1:40.806 + 1.002 6. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:40.970 + 1.166 7. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1:41.060 + 1.256 8. Marco Melandri Kawasaki 1:41.207 + 1.403 9. Sete Gibernau Ducati 1:41.243 + 1.439 10. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:41.513 + 1.709 11. James Toseland Yamaha 1:41.516 + 1.712 12. Toni Elias Honda 1:41.594 + 1.790 13. Mika Kallio Ducati 1:41.600 + 1.796 14. Randy de Puniet Honda 1:41.637 + 1.833 15. Alex de Angelis Honda 1:41.640 + 1.836 16. Vittoriano Guareschi Ducati 1:41.711 + 1.907 17. Kosuke Akiyoshi Honda 1:42.058 + 2.254 18. Niccolo Canepa Ducati 1:42.376 + 2.572 19. Yuki Takahashi Honda 1:42.564 + 2.760
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