Stoner leads Sepang first practice

The world champion set the early pace before other riders went faster, but a lap of 2:04.542 with just under ten minutes remaining put the top spot beyond reach.

With twenty minutes remaining in the session, times were relatively slow, six seconds slower than last year's best of 2:00.605, the track having been resurfaced in August this year.

But then the times began to drop, with Suzuki's John Hopkins putting in a 2:05.846, then Honda rider Dani Pedrosa lowered it to a 2:05.716 quickly followed by a 2:05.114 before Stoner put it beyond reach.

Pedrosa's effort was good enough for second fastest at the end of the session, while 2006 MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden just edged out Hopkins for third spot, his time of 2:05.740 almost 1.2 seconds slower than Stoner's best. Continuing on his recent strong form in fifth was Kawasaki rider Randy de Puniet.

In sixth was Alex Barros, just under two seconds off the pace, who headed a group of riders separated by less than half a second, comprised of Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Anthony West, Marco Melandri, Chris Vermeulen and Suzuki 'wildcard' Nobuatsu Aoki.

Konica Minolta's Shinya Nakano crashed during the session, badly damaging the bike, but returned to the circuit on a new bike later on.

Despite having less restrictions on tyres, the two Dunlop-shod bikes of Makoto Tamada and Sylvain Guintoli languished at the bottom of the times in 18th and 20th respectively.

Pos  Rider             Make           Time
 1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  2:04.542
 2.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (M)  2:05.114  + 0.572
 3.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  2:05.740  + 1.198
 4.  John Hopkins      Suzuki    (B)  2:05.846  + 1.304
 5.  Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki  (B)  2:06.270  + 1.728
 6.  Alex Barros       Ducati    (B)  2:06.519  + 1.977
 7.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (M)  2:06.613  + 2.071
 8.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati    (B)  2:06.631  + 2.089
 9.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  2:06.721  + 2.179
10.  Marco Melandri    Honda     (B)  2:06.872  + 2.330
11.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  2:06.898  + 2.356
12.  Nobuatsu Aoki     Suzuki    (B)  2:06.952  + 2.410
13.  Toni Elias        Honda     (B)  2:06.995  + 2.453
14.  Carlos Checa      Honda     (M)  2:07.272  + 2.730
15.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  2:07.695  + 3.153
16.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (M)  2:07.775  + 3.233
17.  Kurtis Roberts    KR212V    (M)  2:09.324  + 4.782
18.  Makoto Tamada     Yamaha    (D)  2:09.469  + 4.927
19.  Chaz Davies       Ducati    (B)  2:09.892  + 5.350
20.  Sylvain Guintoli  Yamaha    (D)  2:10.244  + 5.702