A margin of 0.064s separated Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner in Free Practice 1 of the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix weekend, as the Fiat Yamaha rider recorded the quickest time in the opening MotoGP session.
Lorenzo set a best lap of 2’02.180 in a tight session, with the top four riders – including Rossi – breaking the 2’02 barrier.
Stoner followed Lorenzo closely, with Dani Pedrosa just over half a second further down at third in the order as Rossi came in fourth, registering a time 0.684s off Lorenzo’s. It was the perfect start to the weekend for the Spaniard, whose crash at Phillip Island last weekend all but ended his hopes of wrestling the title from Rossi.
Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso completed the top five with a best lap of 2’03.142, while fellow Italian Loris Capirossi was just over 0.1s behind him.
Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) were all inside the top ten.
SHELL ADVANCE MALAYSIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX
MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 1 Classification
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap 1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 2'02.180 303.541 2 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 2'02.244 307.955 0.064 3 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'02.758 309.455 0.578 4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 2'02.864 305.862 0.684 5 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'03.142 301.255 0.962 6 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'03.253 303.456 1.073 7 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 2'03.294 307.254 1.114 8 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 2'03.426 300.250 1.246 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 2'03.739 301.591 1.559 10 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'03.763 299.334 1.583 11 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 2'03.785 305.084 1.605 12 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 2'04.042 304.396 1.862 13 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 2'04.274 301.844 2.094 14 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 2'04.664 300.668 2.484 15 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 2'05.218 299.003 3.038 16 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 2'05.289 300.250 3.109 17 44 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 2'05.336 298.013 3.156
