Stoner fastest in the warm-up
Championship leader Casey Stoner topped the Estoril warm-up in a session that started under overcast skies and a light drizzle and ended with sunlight shining over the Portuguese track
The Marlboro Ducati rider, who will start the race from second on the grid, set a best time of 1:37.495 on his 13th and last lap.
That time was 0.255 seconds faster than Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet, who yesterday had a disastrous qualifying that will see him occupying the 18th spot at the start.
Third fastest was John Hopkins, whose Rizla Suzuki was four tenths slower than the leading Ducati.
Pole position man Nicky Hayden set the fourth fastest time with his Repsol Honda, half a tenth faster than Spanish teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, who will start the race from third place, was only sixth 0.639 seconds slower than Stoner, with Honda LCR's Carlos Checa seventh fastest and Marco Melandri's Honda Gresini eighth.
Makoto Tamada's Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 set the ninth fastest time, and the second works Ducati of Loris Capirossi tenth.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:37.495 2. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki (B) 1:37.750 + 0.255 3. John Hopkins Suzuki (B) 1:37.897 + 0.402 4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:37.961 + 0.466 5. Daniel Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:38.009 + 0.514 6. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (M) 1:38.134 + 0.639 7. Carlos Checa Honda (M) 1:38.292 + 0.797 8. Marco Melandri Honda (B) 1:38.302 + 0.807 9. Makoto Tamada Yamaha (D) 1:38.405 + 0.910 10. Loris Capirossi Ducati (B) 1:38.601 + 1.106 11. Alex Barros Ducati (B) 1:38.701 + 1.206 12. Toni Elias Honda (B) 1:38.758 + 1.263 13. Alex Hofmann Ducati (B) 1:38.836 + 1.341 14. Shinya Nakano Honda (M) 1:38.875 + 1.380 15. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha (D) 1:38.947 + 1.452 16. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:39.015 + 1.520 17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:39.071 + 1.576 18. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:39.146 + 1.651 19. Kurtis Roberts KR (M) 1:40.993 + 3.498
Share Or Save This Story
Alex Zanardi open to Daytona 24 Hours or Indianapolis 500 bid
Giacomo Agostini says Rossi and Lorenzo will renew hostilities
Working Men: Interview with Ferrari's Test Drivers
LIVE: F1 Hungarian GP updates - Piastri clashes with lapped Sainz to give Norris the net lead
Formula E Tokyo E-Prix: De Vries wins chaotic race as Dennis takes championship lead
BTCC Thruxton: Cook holds off Sutton for opener win
Malaysia will officially host F1's 2026 Bahrain GP
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments