Honda riders 1-2 in opening practice

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finished in first and second places at Misano today as the first MotoGP practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix took place in warm sunshine. Fresh from his victory in Indianapolis only five days ago, Pedrosa picked up where he left off and topped the timesheets for most of the session this afternoon.

Improving with every exit from the pits, the 24-year-old Spaniard’s fastest lap time was an impressive 0.612s quicker than the rest of the field – a hefty margin which sent an ominous sign to his rivals for victory this weekend. Looking fully committed from the outset, Pedrosa was the only rider to go under 1m 35s today and set four laps that were quicker than any of his rivals. Pedrosa’s fastest lap of 1m 34.772s was only fractions behind the race lap record from last year of 1m 34.746s, set by Valentino Rossi.

Dovizioso was also on fast form today at the circuit where he made his motorcycle racing debut back in 2000. The 24-year-old Italian was born and lives just 70kms from the Misano track and took inspiration from his home support to get his weekend off to a strong start. Near the top of the timing screens throughout, his best time came on his final lap of the session, Dovizioso stopping the clock at 1m 35.384s to edge ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi in third and fourth.

The track action continues tomorrow with a further practice session in the morning followed by qualifying in the afternoon to decide grid slots for Sunday’s 28-lap race.

Practice Results
1 Dani Pedrosa 1m 34.772 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Andrea Dovizioso 1m 35.384 ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Jorge Lorenzo 1m 35.444 SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
4 Valentino Rossi 1m 35.539 ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
5 Colin Edwards 1m 35.834 USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
6 Ben Spies 1m 35.892 USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
7 Nicky Hayden 1m 36.028 USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
8 Casey Stoner 1m 36.072 AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
9 Marco Melandri 1m 36.126 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
10 Loris Capirossi 1m 36.277 ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
11 Hector Barbera 1m 36.293 SPA DUCATI Paginas Amarillas Aspar
12 Randy De Puniet 1m 36.454 FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
13 Marco Simoncelli 1m 36.533 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
14 Aleix Espargaro 1m 36.716 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
15 Hiroshi Aoyama 1m 37.001 JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP
16 Mika Kallio 1m 37.697 FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing
17 Alvaro Bautista 1m 37.900 SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP