Today’s MotoGP free practice at Jerez threw up a couple of surprises, the Ducati GP10 looks like it works just fine on this circuit, that historically has never been the best track for Ducati.
Nicky Hayden took third spot ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi.
All the problems that have plagued Pedrosa ’s RC212V during testing and during the Qatar race seem to have disappered with the stiffer chassis and the Spaniard ended up taking the fourth spot.
Casey Stoner dominated the practice and posted the fastest lap time 1′39″731 early in the session, but in the final two minutes of the session lowsided his Ducati GP10 with no serious consequences for the Australian.
Jorge Lorenzo closely followed the Ducati rider and was just 0.
144s off the top spot.
Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa as we said, finished in third and fourth respectively and both were less than a half a second from Stoner.
Valentino Rossi, who was tipped to be this weekend’s winner before we found out that his shoulder injury was a little more serious than was initally believed, took only fifth, a big 0.
628s off Stoner’s timeLoris Capirossi was sixth followed by Colin Edwards and two Spanish rookies, Hector Barbera and Alvaro Bautista who will want to perform well in front of their fans.
Tenth spot was taken by Marco Melandri, who finally looks like he’s finding something decent in his Gresini Honda.
Ben Spies didn’t make into the top ten, but finished the session in 11th place.
The American is on a learning curving at Jerez, having never ridden on this circuit.
Andrea Dovizioso who finished on the podium at Losail was down in a lowly 12th spot.
Marco Simoncelli’s visit to Japan to test in Honda’s wind tunnel hasn’t exactly worked wonders yet, the lanky Italian managed only 15th, while Hiroshi Aoyama finished last on the grid.
Friday practice results:1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′39.
7312 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′39.
875 0.
144 / 0.
1443 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′40.
148 0.
417 / 0.
2734 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′40.
200 0.
469 / 0.
0525 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′40.
359 0.
628 / 0.
1596 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′40.
716 0.
985 / 0.
3577 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1′40.
913 1.
182 / 0.
1978 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1′41.
034 1.
303 / 0.
1219 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′41.
093 1.
362 / 0.
05910 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′41.
190 1.
459 / 0.
09711 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1′41.
200 1.
469 / 0.
01012 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′41.
277 1.
546 / 0.
07713 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1′41.
293 1.
562 / 0.
01614 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati 1′41.
297 1.
566 / 0.
00415 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′41.
533 1.
802 / 0.
2316 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 1′41.
742 2.
011 / 0.
20917 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 1′41.
837 2.
106 / 0.
095