Valentino Rossi topped the timesheets at the end of Friday’s practice session ahead of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
Rossi, who holds an 18-point lead over Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo with three rounds of the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship remaining, posted a best time of one minute 31.032 seconds around the 4.448km track.
Lorenzo’s weekend got off to a miserable start as he finished a second down on Rossi having suffered a lowside in the last five minutes of the session.
The Spaniard, who won last time out in Estoril to eat into his team-mate’s title lead, finished the session down in sixth place. The Press Association
Second fastest was Australia’s Casey Stoner – the winner of his home race for the last two years – as he registered his fastest time on the very last of his 22 laps on the Ducati Marlboro Desmosedici GP9.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) is looking to make amends for his crash in last year’s race and will be aiming for the podium this weekend after starting with the third best time of the first session. The Spaniard was half a second down on Rossi’s pace.
Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) were fourth and fifth respectively on their satellite 800cc prototypes, both lapping within a second of Rossi. MotoGP.com
Pos. Rider Team 1 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 2 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 4 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 6 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 7 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki Motogp 8 Randy De Puniet Lcr Honda Motogp 9 Marco Melandri Hayate Racing Team 10 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 11 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki Motogp 12 Alex De Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 13 James Toseland Monster Yamaha Tech 3 14 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 15 Mika Kallio Ducati Marlboro Team 16 Niccolo Canepa Pramac Racing 17 Gabor Talmacsi Scot Racing Team Motogp 18 Sete Gibernau Grupo Francisco Hernando 19 Yuki Takahashi Scot Racing Team Motogp 20 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing
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