Rossi sets early Jerez pace

From motogp.com

The MotoGP action at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España got underway on Friday afternoon at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit with Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi setting the pace ahead of his premier class rivals.

In pleasant riding conditions 'The Doctor' started the Spanish visit with a best effort of 1:39.647 on the 16th of the 21 laps which he squeezed into the 45-minute first free practice session, continuing the good pace he demonstrated in the Official MotoGP Test at the same track in March.

“There was no car this time, but it was still a very important session for us," said Rossi, referring to the BMW vehicle won by Casey Stoner as the fastest rider in the March test. "We modified something with our setting and tried to fix some of the problems from the first few races. We worked through everything from the soft to the hard tire very quickly, and we can see that for sure it will be a tough race for the tires if the temperatures are like this.”

Three other riders who also performed well in the final preseason test, Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi (1:40.011), Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner (1:40.268) and Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo (1:40.441) lapped second to fourth quickest respectively, while Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso was around a second off Rossi’s pace - completing a top five which featured four different manufacturers.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) all registered top 10 times, Pedrosa lapping a second and a half off the pace.

After an incident free session, 11th placed James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), 12th placed Sete Gibernau (Grupo Francisco Hernando) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) will hope for better results on Saturday in the continued dry conditions which are forecast for day two of the third race weekend of 2009.

Practice Results
1. V. ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1:39.647
2. L. CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.364
3. C. STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.621
4. J. LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team +0.794
5. A. DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team +0.954
6. C. EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.056
7. R. DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP +1.219
8. C. VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.416
9. M. MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team +1.535
10. D. PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +1.561
11. J. TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.814
12. S. GIBERNAU (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando +1.884
13. A. DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini +1.910
14. M. KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing +1.937
15. T. ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini +2.089
16. Y. TAKAHASHI (JPN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP +2.251
17. N. HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team +2.269
18. N. CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing +2.416