The Repsol Honda rider was fastest off the mark in free practice as the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini got underway on Friday, and he was well over half a second quicker than anyone else.
Dani Pedrosa was the leading light in the first practice at Misano on Friday 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 team-mate 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 team-mate and race winner at Misano for the past two years Valentino Rossi, who was the final rider to get within a second of Pedrosa.
The grouped team-mate 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 level on his GP10 which he hopes will be remedied in tomorrow’s second practice ahead of qualifying.
Italians Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), who is set to make his 200th premier class start in Sunday’s race, were both also in the top ten.
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