Stoner tops damp Estoril warm-up
Casey Stoner has shown that his Ducati Marlboro may have the race pace after all after topping the times in a cold and damp warm-up ahead of the Portuguese MotoGP
The reigning champion, who could qualify no better than ninth in the dry at Estoril yesterday, set a fastest lap of 1:48.932, in a session dominated by Bridgestone-shod bikes occupying the top five positions.
Second best was Alex de Angelis on Honda Gresini, 0.379 behind the Australian, followed by Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi a further three tenths behind.
Next up were the Rizla Suzuki of Chris Vermeulen and the Alice Ducati of Sylvain Guintoli.
The top Michelin runner was Randy de Puniet with his LCR Honda in sixth, with John Hopkins's Kawasaki in seventh, Nicky Hayden's Repsol Honda in eighth, and Loris Capirossi's Suzuki in ninth.
Pole position man Jorge Lorenzo had to be content with tenth best with his Michelin-shod Fiat Yamaha, almost two and a half seconds behind Stoner.
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, also on Michelin rubber, could do no better than fifteen fastest after qualifying second yesterday.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:48.932 2. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:49.311 + 0.379 3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:49.612 + 0.680 4. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:49.767 + 0.835 5. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:49.775 + 0.843 6. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:49.947 + 1.015 7. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:50.147 + 1.215 8. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:50.572 + 1.640 9. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:51.320 + 2.388 10. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:51.391 + 2.459 11. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:51.660 + 2.728 12. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:51.843 + 2.911 13. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:51.867 + 2.935 14. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:51.924 + 2.992 15. Daniel Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:52.850 + 3.918 16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:54.141 + 5.209 17. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:55.795 + 6.863 18. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:56.847 + 7.915
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