Stoner tops Saturday morning practice

A cold Saturday morning in Barcelona saw the Ducati of Casey Stoner finally top the practice timesheets for the first time since Qatar this year. The Bridgestone-shod Australian set a time marginally quicker than former World Champion Nicky Hayden, clocking in at 1’43"013.

Colin Edwards and his former partner Valentino Rossi were third and fourth fastest respectively this morning, with one tenth of a second separating the two.

Not far behind in fifth place is Australia’s own Chris Vermeulen, whose fastest time of 1’43"261 was marginally quicker than Yamaha’s James Toseland in sixth.

Randy de Puniet was the second fastest Honda in seventh place, with Dani Pedrosa not far behind in eighth, with Andrea Dovizioso and Loris Capirossi rounding out the top ten.

MotoGP results :

Pos. Rider Team Time Kph Gap
1 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1'43.013 165.2
2 Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1'43.125 165.02 0.112
3 Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1'43.243 164.83 0.23
4 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1'43.253 164.81 0.24
5 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'43.261 164.8 0.248
6 James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1'43.294 164.75 0.281
7 Randy De Puniet LCR Honda 1'43.356 164.65 0.343
8 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1'43.375 164.62 0.362
9 Andrea Dovizioso JiR Team Scot 1'43.708 164.09 0.695
10 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'43.947 163.71 0.934
11 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1'44.031 163.58 1.018
12 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1'44.094 163.48 1.081
13 Alex De Angelis Team San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'44.126 163.43 1.113
14 Shinya Nakano Team San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'44.558 162.75 1.545
15 Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team 1'44.591 162.7 1.578
16 Toni Elias Alice Team 1'44.962 162.13 1.949
17 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1'45.300 161.61 2.287