Pedrosa leads Donington practice

From motogp.com

A dry line and a determined effort from Dani Pedrosa at the Donington Park circuit on Friday gave the Repsol Honda rider the fastest time of Friday afternoon, in practice for the British Grand Prix.

Pedrosa clocked a 1:38.627 lap on his final lap of the day to continue his strong run of form from recent weeks, and take the early advantage ahead of Sunday’s race.

Second quickest in the session, Casey Stoner recorded the fewest laps of any rider with 16 turns of the British track –some 11 fewer than Pedrosa. He was examining his Ducati Desmosedici GP9 in the garage whilst his rival was reducing his time by 0.245.

World Championship leader Valentino Rossi was third, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and title challenger Jorge Lorenzo in a top five separated by half a second.

There were difficulties in the session for home rider James Toseland, who had a run off track during the session and was also unable to bring his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike back to the pits after an incident at the end of the session.

Track conditions were drier than the drenched 125cc session, although not completely dry.

Practice Results
1. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda 1:38.627 (260.497 km/h)
2. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +0.245
3. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +0.290
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.442
5. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +0.478
6. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +0.503
7. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati +0.582
8. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +0.752
9. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +1.128
10. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +1.489
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1.792
12. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +1.895
13. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +2.223
14. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +2.840
15. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +3.234
16. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +3.583
17. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +4.069