Submitted by David Emmett on
Jorge Lorenzo topped the timesheets during a wet third session of free practice at Estoril, despite crashing out in the final minutes of the session. The Fiat Yamaha rider had started slowly, but was soon matching the pace of his teammate and bitter rival Valentino Rossi. The two men swapped the top spot for the latter half of the session, before Lorenzo finally emerged on top.
Rossi ended the session in 2nd, nearly six tenths down, and nearly the same amount again ahead of Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso. Casey Stoner, who had led early until he too crashed midway through the session, eventually reemerged from the pits to finish in 4th, ahead of Monster Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards and San Carlo Gresini's Marco Simoncelli.
The session was marred by several nasty highsides: Both Lorenzo and Stoner crashed at the same location, towards the end of the final Parabolica corner, while Stoner's Marlboro Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden suffered an eerily similar crash at Turn 2. Lorenzo and Stoner walked away unhurt, despite being flicked viciously off the bike, while Hayden limped away a little worse for wear.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Diff Previous |
1 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | YAMAHA | 1'48.853 | ||
2 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | 1'49.435 | 0.582 | 0.582 |
3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | HONDA | 1'50.007 | 1.154 | 0.572 |
4 | 27 | Casey STONER | DUCATI | 1'50.081 | 1.228 | 0.074 |
5 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | YAMAHA | 1'50.313 | 1.460 | 0.232 |
6 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | HONDA | 1'50.500 | 1.647 | 0.187 |
7 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | DUCATI | 1'50.787 | 1.934 | 0.287 |
8 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | HONDA | 1'50.824 | 1.971 | 0.037 |
9 | 33 | Marco MELANDRI | HONDA | 1'51.250 | 2.397 | 0.426 |
10 | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | SUZUKI | 1'51.518 | 2.665 | 0.268 |
11 | 11 | Ben SPIES | YAMAHA | 1'51.916 | 3.063 | 0.398 |
12 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SUZUKI | 1'52.734 | 3.881 | 0.818 |
13 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | DUCATI | 1'53.018 | 4.165 | 0.284 |
14 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | HONDA | 1'53.317 | 4.464 | 0.299 |
15 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | HONDA | 1'53.537 | 4.684 | 0.220 |
16 | 71 | Carlos CHECA | DUCATI | 1'53.933 | 5.080 | 0.396 |
17 | 40 | Hector BARBERA | DUCATI | 1'54.073 | 5.220 | 0.140 |
Comments
Why are we not the hearing
Why are we not the hearing hysterical calls for a change of date for this GP as we did when a few rain drops fell at Phillip Island??
Sick and tired of the reactionary tabloid crap that comes out of most journo's thes days..........
This island
You obviously were not at Phillip island this year, or past years for that matter. The wind chill was 0 deg c with snow falling in the hills not far away. Not to mention the wind blowing at 50- 70 km gusts with the rain falling that felt like sleet.
No offence, but you might
No offence, but you might make it into journalism with that level of sensationalism. I was at PI, and it was not half as bad as you make it out to be. Harden up a little!
Sorry, but I have to agree with gms5...
Spies in the middle of the
Spies in the middle of the 4th row of the grid, if qualifying canceled... Not good. Doesn't pay to be a slacker in the rain practice.
Grid would be based on
Grid would be based on fastest times from the combined practice sessions so Spies would be in the middle of row 2.
oops... thanks
oops... thanks