Today's two-hour long session took place under dry conditions, with all the riders getting a chance to actually go out and learn the track. The session went mostly as expected, with a few surprises. Casey Stoner dominated once again, and though Valentino Rossi was close for most of the practice, in the last 15 minutes, Stoner turned up the heat and started lapping in the 1'34s, over half a second faster than the rest of the field. Rossi took back a little time on Stoner, but still ended half a second slower than Stoner's fastest time.
Ant West set the 3rd fastest time on his Kawasaki, as expected, with his experience of racing at the new track during the World Supersport race. In 4th place was the biggest surprise. Carlos Checa thrives under pressure, and now that it looks like the Spanish veteran could be out of a job next year, he has stepped up his game. Checa was constantly amongst the fastest riders, only losing out to Ant West in the dying minutes of the session.
Marco Melandri suffered another heavy crash during the early part of the session, which saw the Italian sidelined for some time while he visited the Clinica Mobile, but he returned to compete in the session, finally setting the 15th fastest time. Qualifying practice will take place at the usual time, 1:50 pm local time (CEST).
1 |
27 |
Casey STONER |
DUCATI |
1'34.714 |
|
|
2 |
46 |
Valentino ROSSI |
YAMAHA |
1'35.230 |
0.516 |
0.516 |
3 |
13 |
Anthony WEST |
KAWASAKI |
1'35.582 |
0.868 |
0.352 |
4 |
7 |
Carlos CHECA |
HONDA |
1'35.644 |
0.930 |
0.062 |
5 |
5 |
Colin EDWARDS |
YAMAHA |
1'35.660 |
0.946 |
0.016 |
6 |
71 |
Chris VERMEULEN |
SUZUKI |
1'35.708 |
0.994 |
0.048 |
7 |
14 |
Randy DE PUNIET |
KAWASAKI |
1'35.778 |
1.064 |
0.070 |
8 |
1 |
Nicky HAYDEN |
HONDA |
1'35.850 |
1.136 |
0.072 |
9 |
26 |
Dani PEDROSA |
HONDA |
1'35.998 |
1.284 |
0.148 |
10 |
65 |
Loris CAPIROSSI |
DUCATI |
1'36.069 |
1.355 |
0.071 |
11 |
21 |
John HOPKINS |
SUZUKI |
1'36.265 |
1.551 |
0.196 |
12 |
6 |
Makoto TAMADA |
YAMAHA |
1'36.321 |
1.607 |
0.056 |
13 |
4 |
Alex BARROS |
DUCATI |
1'36.484 |
1.770 |
0.163 |
14 |
50 |
Sylvain GUINTOLI |
YAMAHA |
1'36.501 |
1.787 |
0.017 |
15 |
33 |
Marco MELANDRI |
HONDA |
1'36.649 |
1.935 |
0.148 |
16 |
66 |
Alex HOFMANN |
DUCATI |
1'37.087 |
2.373 |
0.438 |
17 |
24 |
Toni ELIAS |
HONDA |
1'37.412 |
2.698 |
0.325 |
18 |
80 |
Kurtis ROBERTS |
KR212V |
1'37.489 |
2.775 |
0.077 |
19 |
56 |
Shinya NAKANO |
HONDA |
1'37.770 |
3.056 |
0.281 |