MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa was the leading light in the first practice at Misano today, as the Repsol Honda rider found an immediate pace that was substantially faster than that of the rest of the MotoGP field. A best effort of 1’34.772 made Pedrosa the only rider under 1’35” in the hour-long session, and saw him just over six-tenths of a second faster than teammate, Andrea Dovizioso.
The Italian was second as he began his preparations for what he hopes will be a home GP to celebrate and, with a best time of 1’35.384, was 0.060s ahead of championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. The Fiat Yamaha rider was just in front of his teammate and race winner at Misano for the past two years, Valentino Rossi, who was the final rider to get within a second of Pedrosa's time.
The grouped teammate theme continued with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 pair Colin Edwards and Ben Spies in fifth and sixth respectively. Edwards was just under three-tenths behind Rossi, whilst Spies trailed his fellow American by just under six-hundredths.
Ducati Team duo Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner completed the top eight in the session. Hayden had a minor run off at the very end whilst Stoner endured a difficult practice, struggling to find a satisfactory set-up on his Desmosedici GP10 that he hopes will be remedied in tomorrow’s second practice ahead of qualifying.
Italians Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi, who is set to make his 200th premier class start in Sunday’s race, rounded out the top ten.
Moto2
Alex de Angelis was on form on his return to Moto2 action today, setting the fastest time in the first practice of his home round, the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. Riding as a substitute for the injured Yusuke Teshima on the JiR Moto2 team, De Angelis posted a best lap of 1’40.064 on the Motobi chassis.
Julián Simón and Shoya Tomizawa followed in second and third, both within three-tenths of De Angelis, with Claudio Corti of the Forward Racing team staking an early claim for prominence in a weekend in which all Italian riders will be hoping to do well.
Championship leader Toni Elías completed the top five just 0.424s adrift of De Angelis, with another impressive return to action coming from Mattia Pasini in sixth. The Italian is riding as a wild card for the Italtrans STR team this weekend and was in bullish mode as he squeezed his Suter machine through gaps that would have left other riders hesitating!
Héctor Faubel, Jules Cluzel, Simone Corsi – who had a mechanical issue towards the end – and Gabor Talmacsi completed the top ten, with the Hungarian’s teammate, Andrea Iannone, 11th despite problems with a troublesome wrist.
Scott Redding, fresh off the back of his first Moto2 podium last time out at Indianapolis, was 12th, with wild card Ferruccio Lamborghini a notable 14th.
125 cc
Nico Terol was the quickest 125cc rider off the mark in the opening practice session at Misano today, as the Bancaja Aspar rider set the best time of the hour on his Aprilia. A lap of 1’44.229 from the Spaniard was enough to take top spot on the timesheet by a margin of 0.252s ahead of championship leader and title rival Marc Márquez.
Terol is going for his third consecutive win this weekend whilst Márquez is aiming for his first victory since Sachsenring, with the two separated by just four points in the standings. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider, who leads the title chase, was just over two-tenths faster than Pol Espargaró, who trails Terol by a single point going into the weekend. He was the final rider under 1’45”.
Efrén Vázquez had led the session briefly and his time of 1’45.007 placed him fourth, despite a minor technical glitch towards the end. Podium finisher at Indianapolis Sandro Cortese was fifth, with Esteve Rabat and Bradley Smith sixth and seventh respectively. The British rider will be aiming to considerably reduce the 1.209s gap that stood between him and his teammate in first tomorrow.
Completing the top ten for the session were Racing Team Germany’s Tomoyoshi Koyama, Andalucia Cajasol’s Danny Webb and Stipa-Molenaar Racing’s Randy Krummenacher.