Stoner leads morning session
Casey Stoner started the Catalunya Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time in opening practice
The Honda rider had exchanged the top spot with team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo and Gresini Honda's Marco Simoncelli in the early part of the session before establishing himself on top with a 1m43.918s.
That was enough to guarantee Stoner first position by half a second over Simoncelli, as the rain that had been occasionally spitting over the circuit during the morning became more insistent in the final few minutes and forced all the riders back to their garages.
Lorenzo ended up third ahead of team-mate Ben Spies, with Dovizioso - on the only other works Honda this weekend with Dani Pedrosa sidelined - taking fifth. The Italian was the only man to decide it was worth taking a few laps on wet tyres at the end of the session.
The two Tech 3 Yamahas were sixth and seventh, with Nicky Hayden top Ducati in eighth, followed by team-mate Valentino Rossi and Gresini Honda's second rider Hiroshi Aoyama.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Casey Stoner Honda 1m43.918s 2. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m44.404s + 0.486s 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m44.643s + 0.725s 4. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m44.646s + 0.728s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m44.730s + 0.812s 6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m44.768s + 0.850s 7. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m44.797s + 0.879s 8. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m44.799s + 0.881s 9. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m44.844s + 0.926s 10. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 1m45.332s + 1.414s 11. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 1m45.821s + 1.903s 12. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati 1m46.136s + 2.218s 13. Toni Elias LCR Honda 1m46.714s + 2.796s 14. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m46.860s + 2.942s 15. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m47.587s + 3.669s 16. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m47.832s + 3.914s
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