Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya: Casey Stoner ahead of the pack in rain affected FP1 – MotoGP news
Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner led the rain affected first free practice session of the upcoming fifth round of the 2011 MotoGP season, the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya on Friday.
The second Spanish event of the season is due to take place this Sunday, June 5, 2011.
Casey Stoner dominated the first session of the day in his Honda RC212V. His best lap time was of 1:43.918 seconds and he managed a top speed of 326.7 km/h to lead the time chart.
At the moment, Casey Stoner is the only rider with a double victory in the 2011 season- first at the Qatar GP and the second in France.
San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli was just behind fellow RCV rider, being second fastest with a gap of 0.486 seconds. The Italian gave his best lap time of 1:44.404 seconds. Simoncelli also met the Race Directions to apologise and guarantee
safe race tactics in future.
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo was the third fastest on the day with his best shot of 1:44.643 seconds. The Yamaha factory prime rider Lorenzo was closely followed by his teammate Ben Spies who was 0.728 seconds slower than Stoner with 1:44.643
seconds to manage a fourth place on the time sheet. The Yamaha riders seem to use the advantage of their M1 in the fast corners.
Stoner’s Repsol Honda teammate Andrea Dovizioso was fifth with a fastest lap time of 1:44.730 seconds in the session.
The sixth and seventh seats were occupied by the Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo, Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow respectively. Both the riders have proved their M1s to be faster than any Ducati.
Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi were eighth and ninth respectively. Hayden was riding as the fastest GP11 rider on the time chart. San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Hiroshi Aoyama finished in the tenth place.
Randy de Puniet, Loris Capirossi, Toni Elias, Alvaro Bautista, Karel Abraham and Hector Barbera completed the 16 riders of the session.
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