Stoner tops first practice at Misano
Casey Stoner topped the opening practice session for this weekend's MotoGP round at Misano this morning, but the Ducati rider didn't have it all his own
He sat at the top of the times for most of the hour and chipped away at his time, dropping it through the high 1:35s. But he had to find four tenths more when Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards set a 1:35.424 on his final lap of the session.
But Stoner wasn't to be denied and his final effort was two thousandths of a second quicker.
Still, Edwards's pace, and the presence of Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden in the top six throughout, suggests that the Michelin riders are likely to be a lot more competitive at Misano than they were last time out at Brno.
Local hero Alex de Angelis finished the session third, albeit seven tenths behind Stoner and Edwards.
Lorenzo was fourth, a tenth ahead of his Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, who matched Stoner for pace earlier in the session but couldn't improve his time by enough in the second half of the hour.
Hayden was sixth, from Andrea Dovizioso, Chris Vermeulen, James Toseland, and Shinya Nakano.
Loris Capirossi and Dani Pedrosa were both half a second away from the top ten, and Marco Melandri was 16th, more than two seconds slower than Ducati teammate Stoner.
Kawasaki's John Hopkins did not set a time, the American believed to be hurting from his crash earlier this season.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps 1. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1:35.422 24 2. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1:35.424 + 0.002 24 3. Alex De Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1:36.145 + 0.723 26 4. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1:36.375 + 0.953 29 5. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1:36.464 + 1.042 27 6. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team (M) 1:36.518 + 1.096 27 7. Andrea Dovizioso JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 1:36.602 + 1.180 26 8. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1:36.608 + 1.186 24 9. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1:36.740 + 1.318 22 10. Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1:36.883 + 1.461 25 11. Toni Elias Alice Team (B) 1:37.099 + 1.677 26 12. Randy De Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1:37.196 + 1.774 25 13. Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1:37.355 + 1.933 27 14. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team (M) 1:37.380 + 1.958 27 15. Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team (M) 1:37.534 + 2.112 28 16. Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1:37.669 + 2.247 22 17. Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1:37.929 + 2.507 26
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