Stoner goes fastest in final MotoGP practice at Silverstone, as Crutchlow crashes heavily
Casey Stoner produced the fastest MotoGP lap of the weekend so far to top the third and final practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone
The Honda rider knocked Jorge Lorenzo off the top spot with 11 minutes remaining with a 2m04.140s lap, and then improved his own pace as the chequered flag came out to end the session on 2m03.941s.
Lorenzo was 0.416s slower than the world champion, with his Yamaha team-mate Ben Spies snatching third spot on his final lap. Andrea Dovizioso, Alvaro Bautista and Dani Pedrosa completed the top six for the Tech-3 Yamaha, Gresini Honda and factory Honda teams respectively.
The Ducatis of Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi were seventh and ninth - split by the Pramac-run GP12 of Hector Barbera.
Rossi, the early pace-setter in dry conditions, had a brief off into the gravel at Club, but was able to negotiate his way into the pitlane without falling off.
Randy de Puniet was the best of the CRT riders in 10th on his Aspar Aprilia while Britain's James Ellison was 13th on his similar, Paul Bird Motorsport-run machine.
The biggest incident of the session came when British hero Cal Crutchlow crashed after losing the front of his Tech-3 Yamaha at Chapel. After being flung to the ground, he was taken to the medical centre with a suspected broken ankle.
LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl was also taken to the medical centre after a crash, while Yonny Hernandez also crashed but walked away and was able to resume the session on his spare bike.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Casey Stoner Honda 2m03.941s 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m04.357s + 0.416s 3. Ben Spies Yamaha 2m04.427s + 0.486s 4. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 2m04.566s + 0.625s 5. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m04.886s + 0.945s 6. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 2m05.021s + 1.080s 7. Nicky Hayden Ducati 2m05.114s + 1.173s 8. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati 2m06.377s + 2.436s 9. Valentino Rossi Ducati 2m06.548s + 2.607s 10. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 2m07.190s + 3.249s 11. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 2m07.359s + 3.418s 12. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 2m07.846s + 3.905s 13. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 2m08.564s + 4.623s 14. Mattia Pasini Speed Master Aprilia 2m08.695s + 4.754s 15. Yonni Hernandez Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m09.275s + 5.334s 16. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Aprilia 2m09.643s + 5.702s 17. Ivan Silva Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki 2m10.048s + 6.107s 18. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 2m11.935s + 7.994s
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