Stoner stays on top at Misano
Casey Stoner topped the second MotoGP free practice session at Misano afternoon and started to stretch away from the rest of the pack
He was eight tenths of a second clear of the field for almost all of the session and looked set to head into tomorrow's qualifying day with a significant pace advantage, until Valentino Rossi closed the gap to 0.4 seconds right at the end.
Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet posted their best times on the last lap of the session and moved into third and fourth places.
Chris Vermeulen was fifth for Suzuki, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo who had been second - a tenth ahead of Fiat Yamaha teammate Rossi - for much of the hour.
Alex de Angelis, Colin Edwards, Shinya Nakano and James Toseland completed the top ten, with the two Repsol Hondas 11th and 12th.
Nicky Hayden was half a tenth quicker than Dani Pedrosa, and was set improve further when he crashed at the last corner on the final lap of the session.
John Hopkins was again absent from the timesheets, the Kawasaki rider not taking to the track for problems believed to be related to his rib injury.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps 1. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1:34.806 21 2. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1:35.224 + 0.418 27 3. Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1:35.377 + 0.571 29 4. Randy De Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1:35.620 + 0.814 27 5. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1:35.743 + 0.937 27 6. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1:35.766 + 0.960 27 7. Alex De Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1:35.861 + 1.055 23 8. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1:35.913 + 1.107 24 9. Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1:36.100 + 1.294 27 10. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1:36.105 + 1.299 23 11. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team (M) 1:36.189 + 1.383 24 12. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team (M) 1:36.219 + 1.413 29 13. Andrea Dovizioso JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 1:36.356 + 1.550 27 14. Toni Elias Alice Team (B) 1:36.425 + 1.619 24 15. Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team (B) 1:36.619 + 1.813 25 16. Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1:37.096 + 2.290 22 17. Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1:38.239 + 3.433 25
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