Today’s free pratice 1 at the Montmelò circuit in Spain saw Valentino Rossi take first place with a best lap time of 1′43.
038, with team mate Jorge Lorenzo who kept matching Rossi’s times, but in the end lost out by three tenths of second.
Casey Stoner was third, off by 0.
598s, but suffered a lowside with 15 minutes left in free practice and had to use his spare bike to complete the session.
The big surprise in this weekend’s GP was Gabor Talmacsi who debuted today with the Scot Racing Team.
Talmacsi abandonded his 250cc team and Aspar Martinez over image rights before LeMans.
He and his manager Stefano Favaro worked hard to find a new ride and the backing of sponsors MOL has allowed Talmacsi to join the Scot Racing alongside Yuki Takahashi.
Talmacsi finished 19th on his first outing with the Honda RC212V, four seconds from Rossi.
Repsol Hond’s Andrea Dovizioso was fourth on the timesheet, while team-mate Dani Pedrosa was 14th place riding with painkiller injections to treat his injured hip that he picked up at Mugello.
Randy de Puniet was fifth fastest and Nicky Hayden was sixth.
A big step up from the American’s past performances and it looks like that the new geometry, handle grips and the simplified electronics that Ducati has brought in for Nicky seems to be working out.
Loris Capirossi and Colin Edwards were seventh and eighth respectively.
Yuki Takahashi was up to 9th, he also made a big jump forward from his usual positions.
Gabor Talmacsi presence in the team has probably put a little more pressure on the Japanese rider.
James Toseland rounded out the top ten.
Marco Melandri and his Hayate was 11th and Sete Gibernau 12th, returning to track after collarbone surgery.
Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen was 13th.
Honda Gresini riders Elias and DeAngelis were in 15th and 16th.
Kallio and Canepa were also struggling coming in 17th and 18th.
MotoGP FP1 Results – Catalunya01 V.
ROSSI– ITA- Fiat Yamaha Team- 1′43.
03802 J.
LORENZO- SPA- Fiat Yamaha Team- + 0.
30203 C.
STONER- AUS- Ducati Marlboro Team- + 0.
59804 A.
DOVIZIOSO- ITA- Repsol Honda Team- + 0.
64605 R.
DE PUNIET- FRA- LCR Honda MotoGP- + 0.
83306 N.
HAYDEN- USA- Ducati Marlboro Team- + 1.
11407 L.
CAPIROSSI- ITA- Rizla Suzuki MotoGP- + 1.
30208 C.
EDWARDS- USA- Monster Yamaha Tech 3- + 1.
38109 Y.
TAKAHASHI- JPN- Scot Racing Team MotoGP- + 1.
44610 J.
TOSELAND- GBR- Monster Yamaha Tech 3- + 1.
54211 M.
MELANDRI- ITA- Hayate Racing Team- + 1.
61112 S.
GIBERNAU- SPA- Grupo Francisco Hernando- + 1.
64013 C.
VERMEULEN- AUS- Rizla Suzuki MotoGP- + 1.
70614 D.
PEDROSA- SPA- Repsol Honda Team- + 2.
00515 T.
ELIAS- SPA- San Carlo Honda Gresini- + 2.
06316 A.
DE ANGELIS- RSM- San Carlo Honda Gresini- + 2.
08817 M.
KALLIO- FIN- Pramac Racing- + 2.
35618 N.
CANEPA- ITA- Pramac Racing- + 2.
41619 G.
TALMACSI- HUN- Scot Racing Team MotoGP- + 4.
616