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Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner has set the fastest time in this morning’s opening MotoGP free practice session in wet conditions at Valencia which allowed nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi to bag second place until the dying second when he was shuffled back by Dani Pedrosa.
The heavens opened early on and Stoner mastered the conditions to go a quarter of second faster than team-mate Pedrosa on a 1’45.513 while Marlboro Ducati’s Rossi was only another tenth further back with a 1’45.828.
Bologna team-mate Nicky Hayden, who had led the session more than once, was eventually shuffled back to fourth while Loris Capirossi’s experience meant he could make the best of tricky conditions and put his #58 Pramac Ducati in fifth, one place ahead of the injured Ben Spies who is three quarters of a second in arrears. BSN
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MotoGP: Grand Prix of Valencia - First Practice Results
Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) was seventh ahead of Elias in eighth and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) ninth. Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completed the top ten times with a lap one second off the lead time of Stoner.
As Colin Edwards continues to recover from the injuries he sustained in Malaysia, his replacement American superbike champion Josh Hayes made an impressive debut on a MotoGP machine, climbing as high as 13th position for not only his first experience in a GP field but also his first time at the Valencian circuit.
Hayes concluded the session in – position, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement on the Factory Yamaha team, Japanese rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga. motogp
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