Stoner tops Estoril warm-up

The Australian, who missed the last three races, dominated the second half of the 20-minute session and further improved his time with a final effort of 1m37.334s lap.

The rest of the top runners only got close in the final couple of minutes, with Honda's Dani Pedrosa setting the second fastest time, 0.228s behind Stoner.

Yamaha's title contenders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were a further two tenths behind, with the two separated by a mere 0.002 seconds.

Mika Kallio surprisingly put his Pramac Ducati in fifth position, ahead of the works Desmosedici ridden by Nicky Hayden.

Randy de Puniet was seventh quickest with his LCR Honda, followed by the Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, and with Gresini Honda's Toni Elias sandwiched between them.

Pos  Rider             Team             Time               Laps
 1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           1m37.334s           11
 2.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda            1m37.562s + 0.228s  11
 3.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           1m37.788s + 0.454s  11
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           1m37.790s + 0.456s  10
 5.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati    1m38.213s + 0.879s  12
 6.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           1m38.234s + 0.900s  12
 7.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        1m38.325s + 0.991s  11
 8.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           1m38.651s + 1.317s  12
 9.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    1m38.777s + 1.443s  11
10.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           1m38.803s + 1.469s  12
11.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    1m38.806s + 1.472s  12
12.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha    1m38.842s + 1.508s  11
13.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati    1m39.013s + 1.679s  12
14.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            1m39.187s + 1.853s  12
15.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  1m39.341s + 2.007s  12
16.  Gabor Talmacsi    Scot Honda       1m39.675s + 2.341s  12
17.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha    1m39.699s + 2.365s  10