At the end of the first free practice session, it was clear that Valention Rossi was healthy, comfortable, and ready to reclaim the top spot around the Mugello track. Rossi was the only rider under the 1'50 mark at the Italian Grand Prix, beating out his Fiat Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, by just three tenths of a second.
Rizla Suzuki rider Loriz Capirossi managed to post a third place time before taking a fall at the end of the session. Colin Edwards had a solid opening at the Italian Grand prix, setting a forth place time, just over a second behind Rossi. The top ranked Honda, ridden by Dani Pedrosa, came in fifth.
Ben Spies took his first MotoGP try at the Mugello track into a 6th place finish, followed by Casey Stoner, who broke Rossi's 7 year win streak at Mugello last year.
Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, and Hector Barbera finished off the top ten.
MotoGP - Mugello - Free Practice 1
1. ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 49.751s
2. ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 50.12s
3. ITA Rizla Suzuki 1m 50.359s
4. USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 50.772s
5. ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 50.773s
6. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 51.004s
7. AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 51.128s
8. ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 51.255s
9. USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 51.387s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1m 51.582s
11. FRA LCR Honda 1m 51.605s
12. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 51.717s
13. ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 51.782s
14. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 1m 52.202s
15. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda 1m 52.399s
16. FIN Pramac Racing 1m 52.418s
17. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki 1m 55.257s
