Sunday, October 19, 2008

MotoGP: Rossi blistering in opening practice

Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi put a dent in everyone else's hopes with a blistering final lap in the opening practice for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

Rossi spent most of the session at or near the top of the times. With 30 seconds of the session remaining, Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo went to the top with a 2:03.179.

But Rossi was not done with, and after the chequered flag fell set a time of 2:02.693 to go almost half a second clear of his nearest rival.

Lorenzo remained second, 0.016 of a second ahead of Ducati's Casey Stoner, who spent most of the session swapping fastest times with Rossi.

Next fastest was Colin Edwards, three-quarters of a second behind Rossi but consistently near the top of the times through the session.

Behind Edwards were a pair of Hondas, Randy de Puniet a tenth faster than Repsol's Nicky Hayden, with Suzuki's Loris Capirossi just over a second behind Rossi in eighth.

An improved showing for Marco Melandri saw him thirteenth, just under a second slower than teammate Stoner and faster than both the Alice Ducatis, while Dani Pedrosa ended the session seventeenth, eight tenths of a second slower than teammate Hayden.

Nobuatsu Aoki's wildcard ride on the Suzuki has got off to a slow start, a clear last, nearly five seconds off the pace.

Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 2:02.693 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 2:03.179 + 0.486 3. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 2:03.195 + 0.502 4. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 2:03.439 + 0.746 5. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 2:03.535 + 0.842 6. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 2:03.649 + 0.956 7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 2:03.735 + 1.042 8. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 2:03.785 + 1.092 9. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 2:03.839 + 1.146 10. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2:03.964 + 1.271 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 2:04.137 + 1.444 12. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 2:04.169 + 1.476 13. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 2:04.256 + 1.563 14. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 2:04.267 + 1.574 15. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:04.383 + 1.690 16. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 2:04.399 + 1.706 17. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) 2:04.460 + 1.767 18. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 2:04.833 + 2.140 19. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) 2:07.530 + 4.837

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