The weather that Britain is famous for reared its ugly head today, but not until the very end of the free practice session at the Silverstone circuit and by then Jorge Lorenzo had established himself at the top of the timesheets as motorcycle Grand Prix racing returned to the famous racetrack after a 23-year hiatus.
Lorenzo went to the top with just under 14 minutes left in the session, the Fiat Yamaha rider displacing Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso in the first session in preparation for Sunday’s Airasia British Grand Prix.
Then the Spaniard went quicker, dropping into the 2:05s with a 2:05.99 with 11 and a half minutes to run. He would be the only rider to dip into the 2:05s as rain hit the track in the waning moments of the session.
Casey Stoner ended up second in today’s first session as riders learned the long and fast Silverstone circuit with all but him and Colin Edwards riding on the track for the first time. But the track that Edwards raced World Superbike and Stoner raced 125s in the British Championship here in 2001 was prior to the big changes that were made to the circuit to entice MotoGP to return. Cycle News
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), fresh off the back of a home podium finish at Mugello, continued his momentum as he timed in at just under four-tenths off Lorenzo’s early weekend marker. Frenchman Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) had set the pace at the start of the session and eventually placed fourth on the timesheet, fractionally under a tenth off Dovizioso as he displayed a consistent race pace.
Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) will be hoping to take advantage of the fact that this is a new track for all and the rookie was fifth. His first run on the layout placed him 1.259s off Lorenzo and he will take great encouragement from the session, in which he placed ahead of Mugello race winner Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa by almost four-tenths. Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) was only two-thousandths further back in seventh. MotoGP
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