PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA, OCT 15 – Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo made good on his vow to come out fighting by topping the first practice session on a wet, cold, and windy day at Phillip Island.Lorenzo had to ride somewhat conservatively in pursuit of the world championship. But once he clinched it with a third place finish last weekend in Sepang, the Spaniard said all bets were off.Today he was fastest from very early in the session, which was delayed two hours by standing water on the track, mostly in the final corner. Heavy rains that began overnight abated during the day, but continued well into the afternoon. Lorenzo started fast and gradually lowered his time throughout the session to end at 1:41.146 mins.Ducati Marlboro teammates Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were next fastest. With his last lap his fastest, Stoner ended up.334 secs. down on Lorenzo with Hayden .151 behind his teammate. Of the two, Hayden had the slower start, but made very steady progress and moved well up the order over the course of his 19 full laps. Second at one point, he ceded the spot to Stoner near the very end of the hour.The San Carlo Gresini Honda team took the next two spots, Marco Simoncelli just in front of teammate Marco Melandri. Simoncelli was impressive in his first MotoGP race on the the track where he won the last two 250cc races. Melandri’s lone MotoGP win in Australia came in similar conditions back in 2006Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso was among the front-runners for much of the session, but an extended stay in the pit box for adjustments halfway in cut into his track time. All of his 23 full laps came in two extended runs. The first was 13 laps, the second ten laps. He ended up sixth fastest on the strength of his final lap from the first run. Teammate Dani Pedrosa did seven laps before calling it a day. Pedrosa was riding for the first time since breaking his left collarbone in a practice crash in Motegi two weeks ago today. He ended up with the 16th fastest time.Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) did three runs, with his final lap his best of the session. He was seventh fastest and 1.5 secs. down on teammate Lorenzo.With his final lap, his 12th at speed, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards moved from tenth to eighth fastest. Edwards spent the entire session on the track, which was the opposite of his teammate. Ben Spies waited 15 minutes to go out, then did only two laps at speed before returning to the pits and changing into his street clothes. Spies said there was no point riding in the horrible conditions, with the gusting winds the most dangerous factor.LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet was fast early and put in the most laps, but ended up ninth fastest, one in front of the first Rizla Suzuki of Loris Capirossi.
MotoGP Practice:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha 1:41.146
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1:41.480
3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 1:41.631
4. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Honda 1:41.881
5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1:41.982
6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 1:42.271
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1:42.626
8. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:43.013
9. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Honda 1:43.476
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Suzuki 1:43.984
11. Mika Kallio (FIN) Ducati 1:44.179
12. Hector Barbera (SPA) Ducati 1:45.695
13. Hiroshi Aoyama (JAP) Honda 1:45.736
14. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Suzuki 1:46.160
15. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Ducati 1:48.127
16. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1:51.210
17. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 1:58.613
