The Fiat Yamaha team picked up where it left off before the short summer break with a dominant one-two in the first practice session for Sunday’s Czech GP at Brno. And of the teammates, it was the younger one who stole the day.Jorge Lorenzo jumped out early and continued to lower the mark, lapping in a zone no one could approach. By the end he’d turned the fastest lap at the circuit, a time of 1:56.595 mins. No one came very close, though teammate and world championship leader Valentino Rossi did approach it with his final lap. That was a 1:56.994, the only other lap in the 56’s.The times are both under the circuit best of 1:57.199 mins. turned in by Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner in last year’s race.Stoner is absent from this race, and the next two, resting at his home in Australia under doctor’s orders while recovering from a fatiguing virus. His replacement is MotoGP rookie Mika Kallio, the young Finn who deported himself well in his first outing on the factory Ducati Desmosedici. Kallio ran as high as fifth place before getting dropped two spots to seventh. Still, he finished five spots ahead of teammate Nicky Hayden, who could only manage the 12th fastest time, .9 secs. slower than Kallio’s.Third on the day, and breaking up the Yamahas, was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, the Spaniard .6 secs. behind Rossi with a best of 1:57.584. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards, the second place finisher at the previous round at Donington Park, was a close fourth.Then came Donington winner Andrea Dovizioso, the Repsol Honda rider the first in the 58’s when he ran a 1:58.172 at the very end of the session, and the first of ten riders on the same second.San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias was a tenth back in sixth and only .07 quicker than Kallio.Alex De Angelis, the second San Carlo Honda Gresini rider, was just back in eighth and less than a tenth better than Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi. Capirossi and teammate Chris Vermeulen, 13th best, had the benefit of new frames and engines in Brno.Hayate Racing’s Marco Melandri was 10th and followed in quicker order by Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s James Toseland and Hayden.LCR Honda’s Randy De Puniet finished 14th on a broken ankle. The Frenchman broke the ankle motocrossing ten days ago with his trainer, the former World Motocross Champion Yves Demaria.Pramac Racing’s Niccolo Canepa was 15th in front of Gabor Talmacsi, the Scot Honda riding in MotoGP for the first time at the track closest to his home in Hungary.Ducati Xerox World Superbike rider Michel Fabrizio, riding alongside Canepa on the Pramac Racing team, finished his first session on a MotoGP bike 17th.
Friday Practice:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:56.595
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:56.994
3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1:57.584
4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1:57.741
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1:58.172
6. Toni Elias (Honda) 1:58.295
7. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 1:58.302
8. Alex De Angelis (Honda) 1:58.497
9. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 1:58.582
10. Marco Melandri (Kawasaki) 1:58.739
11. James Toseland (Yamaha) 1:58.764
12. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1:58.821
13. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1:59.041
14. Randy De Puniet (Honda) 1:59.055
15. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 1:59.531
16. Gabor Talmacsi (Honda) 1:59.979
17. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 2:00.423
