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Stoner Edges Out Spies In FP1 At Misano

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Casey Stoner got straight back down to business at Misano on Friday morning, resuming his position at the top of the timesheets. Just five days after dominating the Indianapolis Grand Prix, the championship leader set about laying down a marker in San Marino, although the field seem a little closer to him at this point.

In fact, at the time the chequered flag came out, Stoner wasn't quickest at all after Ben Spies pulled out a 1:34.466 to usurp Dani Pedrosa. But right on cue, the Australian struck back with a 1:34.180, two tenths quicker than Pedrosa's circuit record.

Despite leading much of the session, Pedrosa had to settle for third but the 2010 winner will still feel confident about his chances having set his fastest time just after the halfway point in the session.

Behind the top three came a half second gap to Andrea Dovizioso in fourth. Marco Simoncelli ensured that Honda locked out four of the top five positions on his San Carlo Gresini machine which forced Jorge Lorenzo to make do with sixth. Worryingly for the Spaniard, the gap to his teammate Ben Spies was over half a second, much like it was for most of the Indianapolis weekend.

The first of the Ducatis lined up in seventh but surprisingly it came in the form of Hector Barbera on the Mapfre Aspar bike. More worryingly for the home supporters, the next Ducati wasn't painted red and yellow either with Karel Abraham finishing tenth quickest, just behind Alvaro Bautista and Colin Edwards. As a result, Valentino Rossi was all the way back in 11th with Cal Crutchlow separating him from teammate Nicky Hayden in 13th.

Hiroshi Aoyama, despite finishing just half a second away from Barbera's Ducati, finished down in 14th ahead of the two Pramac machines of Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet while Toni Elias brought up the rear.

 

GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini: Free Practice 1 Result

Pos Rider Nat Bike Team Time/Gap
1 Casey Stoner AUS Honda Repsol Honda Team 1:34.180
2 Ben Spies USA Yamaha Yamaha Factory Racing +0.286
3 Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda Repsol Honda Team +0.349
4 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Honda Repsol Honda Team +0.831
5 Marco Simoncelli ITA Honda San Carlo Honda Gresini +0.908
6 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha Yamaha Factory Racing +0.962
7 Hector Barbera SPA Ducati Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP +1.300
8 Alvaro Bautista SPA Suzuki Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.399
9 Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.409
10 Karel Abraham CZE Ducati Cardion AB Motoracing +1.508
11 Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Ducati Team +1.565
12 Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.770
13 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Ducati Team +1.780
14 Hiroshi Aoyama JAP Honda San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.887
15 Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Pramac Racing Team +2.333
16 Randy de Puniet FRA Ducati Pramac Racing Team +2.466
17 Toni Elias SPA Honda LCR Honda MotoGP +3.128
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