Discussion
Well, Rossi is apparently using his new pneumatic valve engine now, Stoner is using his new Bridgestones and Kawasaki are back in the proper lime green.
Predictably, Stoner vapourised pretty much everything in his path despite an early hiccup. A fairly impressive 0"662 behind him was Hopper and Capirossi trailing 0"382 behind him.
First of the Michelin runners was Rossi who managed to lap 1"136 behind Stoner, setting his best time on his last lap, with Edwards a mere 0"181 behind him.
The two Repsol bikes were 6th and 7th quickest at the hands of Pedrosa and Hayden, respectively. Closely followed by Vermeulen, De Puniet and Elias for the top 10 quickest.
The still injured Melandri was 15th quickest and new arrival Silva, taking Hoffman's place on the d'Antin Ducati managed 18th, unsurprisingly ahead of Kurtis Roberts.
Place your bets?
Predictably, Stoner vapourised pretty much everything in his path despite an early hiccup. A fairly impressive 0"662 behind him was Hopper and Capirossi trailing 0"382 behind him.
First of the Michelin runners was Rossi who managed to lap 1"136 behind Stoner, setting his best time on his last lap, with Edwards a mere 0"181 behind him.
The two Repsol bikes were 6th and 7th quickest at the hands of Pedrosa and Hayden, respectively. Closely followed by Vermeulen, De Puniet and Elias for the top 10 quickest.
The still injured Melandri was 15th quickest and new arrival Silva, taking Hoffman's place on the d'Antin Ducati managed 18th, unsurprisingly ahead of Kurtis Roberts.
Place your bets?
Guintoli did that?!
Apparently if Edwards doesn't get a good enough deal (presumably financially rewarding ;-)) he'll bugger off to AMA where Yamaha are likely to welcome him with both open arms & open cheque book. I'd kinda hoped he might come back to WSB (and ride alongside Haga), but word has it that's a deffo no no.
Rawwr said:
Just confirmed that he was using qualifying tyres *phew*
But a second faster (1.1s) than Tamada when he went on qualifiers. So although a qualy tyre lap it was a very, very good lap. It was over 2secs faster than Tamada's race tyre lap from a short time earlier and the qualys are not worth that much over one lap.Oh, don't get me wrong, I think Guintoli is an excellent rider and we've seen glimpses of it this season at Le Mans and Donington. I honestly believe that if you put him on the right machinery with the right rubber, he'd be a top five rider.
For the record, I said the same about Stoner last year
For the record, I said the same about Stoner last year
Morning practice.
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:58.002
2. John Hopkins Suzuki (B) 1:58.653 + 0.651
3. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki (B) 1:58.939 + 0.939
4. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:59.231 + 1.229
5. Loris Capirossi Ducati (B) 1:59.347 + 1.345
6. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:59.359 + 1.357
7. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha (D) 1:59.460 + 1.458
8. Daniel Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:59.465 + 1.463
9. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:59.516 + 1.514
10. Makoto Tamada Yamaha (D) 1:59.590 + 1.588
11. Alex Barros Ducati (B) 1:59.712 + 1.71
12. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (M) 1:59.849 + 1.847
13. Carlos Checa Honda (M) 1:59.892 + 1.89
14. Toni Elias Honda (B) 2:00.019 + 2.087
15. Shinya Nakano Honda (M) 2:00.353 + 2.351
16. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:00.472 + 2.47
17. Kurtis Roberts KR (M) 2:00.595 + 2.593
18. Ivan Silva Ducati (B) 2:01.392 + 3.36
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:58.002
2. John Hopkins Suzuki (B) 1:58.653 + 0.651
3. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki (B) 1:58.939 + 0.939
4. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:59.231 + 1.229
5. Loris Capirossi Ducati (B) 1:59.347 + 1.345
6. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:59.359 + 1.357
7. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha (D) 1:59.460 + 1.458
8. Daniel Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:59.465 + 1.463
9. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:59.516 + 1.514
10. Makoto Tamada Yamaha (D) 1:59.590 + 1.588
11. Alex Barros Ducati (B) 1:59.712 + 1.71
12. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (M) 1:59.849 + 1.847
13. Carlos Checa Honda (M) 1:59.892 + 1.89
14. Toni Elias Honda (B) 2:00.019 + 2.087
15. Shinya Nakano Honda (M) 2:00.353 + 2.351
16. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:00.472 + 2.47
17. Kurtis Roberts KR (M) 2:00.595 + 2.593
18. Ivan Silva Ducati (B) 2:01.392 + 3.36
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