Simoncelli tops first Mugello practice

Marco Simoncelli set the pace in the opening practice session for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello on Friday. But just barely.

The Italian Gresini rider posted a time of 1m48.987s in the closing moments of the session to outpace championship leader Casey Stoner by 0.040 seconds.

Andrea Dovizioso made it three Hondas in the top three, with world champion Jorge Lorenzo the first non-Honda rider in fourth position on the Yamaha.

Results

Pos

Rider Team Time Behind Laps
1. Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m48.987s +0.000s 21
2. Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team 1m49.027s +0.040 16
3. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m49.088s +0.101 21
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 1m49.251s +0.264 20
5. Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing 1m49.364s +0.377 20
6. Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m49.810s +0.823 19
7. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m50.104s +1.117 19
8. Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m50.203s +1.216 19
9. Hiroshi Aoyama San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m50.629s +1.642 21
10. Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m50.658s +1.671 16
11. Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m50.683s +1.696 19
12. Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team 1m50.729s +1.742 19
13. Valentino Rossi Ducati Team 1m50.780s +1.793 13
14. Hector Barbera Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1m51.153s +2.166 18
15. Toni Elias LCR Honda MotoGP 1m51.868s +2.881 19
16. Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 1m51.876s +2.889 18