Casey Stoner topped the timesheets today at the end of the first practice session at Laguna Seca. Stoner was followed by Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.
After switching bikes at the beginning of the session, Stoner was consistently fast around the Laguna Seca track. He took the lead in front of Lorenzo near the midway point, and continued to better his time throughout the session. Stoner finished with a 1'21.699 time, more than two tenths clear of Lorenzo.
Dovizioso finished in third infront of his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who won last year's race at Laguna Seca.
Ben Spies put in a solid showing infront of his home based American crowd with a fifth place finish in front of the legendary Valentino Rossi. Rossi came in just under a second behind Stoner.
Behind Rossi was Nicky Hayden on the other Ducati bike, followed by Collin Edwards, Marco Melandri and Alex Esparago.
MotoGP - Laguna Seca - Free Practice Results
| Pos. | Rider | Nation | Bike | Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Ducati | 1'21.699 | ||||
| 2 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha | 1'21.932 | ||||
| 3 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Honda | 1'22.225 | ||||
| 4 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Honda | 1'22.559 | ||||
| 5 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha | 1'22.640 | ||||
| 6 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Yamaha | 1'22.660 | ||||
| 7 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati | 1'22.902 | ||||
| 8 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Yamaha | 1'22.971 | ||||
| 9 | Marco MELANDRI | ITA | Honda | 1'23.021 | ||||
| 10 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Ducati | 1'23.693 |
