Stoner tops Friday practice in Spain

The Ducati rider, who is chasing a third straight victory, knocked Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo off the top spot with five minutes to go, and then improved his time further to end on a 1m32.813s - 0.4 seconds clear of the field.

Lorenzo briefly lost second to his countryman Dani Pedrosa (Honda) before reclaiming the place by 0.046s on his last lap.

Fresh from clinching the championship in Malaysia, Valentino Rossi was only fourth, 0.686s off the pace. The Yamaha rider had a quick trip through the gravel but rejoined without drama or damage.

LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet was among the frontrunners throughout and took fifth, ahead of late improvements from Alex de Angelis (Gresini Honda) and Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), with Andrea Dovizioso pushed back to eighth on the second factory Honda.

Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi and Stoner's Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden completed the top ten.

World Superbike champion Ben Spies started his Yamaha MotoGP career with 15th place, 2.239s behind Stoner, although he had been as high as 11th earlier on.

Pos  Rider             Bike      Time       Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    1m32.813s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    1m33.195s  + 0.382s
 3.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     1m33.241s  + 0.428s
 4.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    1m33.499s  + 0.686s
 5.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     1m33.910s  + 1.097s
 6.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     1m34.106s  + 1.293s
 7.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    1m34.123s  + 1.310s
 8.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     1m34.382s  + 1.569s
 9.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    1m34.427s  + 1.614s
10.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati    1m34.462s  + 1.649s
11.  Mika Kallio       Ducati    1m34.696s  + 1.883s
12.  Marco Melandri    Kawasaki  1m34.859s  + 2.046s
13.  James Toseland    Yamaha    1m34.865s  + 2.052s
14.  Toni Elias        Honda     1m34.873s  + 2.060s
15.  Ben Spies         Yamaha    1m35.052s  + 2.239s
16.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    1m35.131s  + 2.318s
17.  Gabor Talmacsi    Honda     1m35.258s  + 2.445s
18.  Aleix Espargaro   Ducati    1m35.458s  + 2.645s