Lorenzo paces practice in Portugal

From motogp.com

In good conditions at Estoril, on the opening day of the round 14 weekend, it was Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who set the pace in the first MotoGP free practice with a best time of 1:37.185 in the closing stages, after heading the timesheet for most of the session.

Lorenzo needs to pile as much pressure as possible on his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi this weekend to stay in the title hunt and the Spanish star will be happy to have started practice in first place, at a venue where he took his first MotoGP win last year.

“It’s good to be back on the bike after one month but also quite hard," said the 22-year-old orenzo, who trails Rossi by 30 points in the MotoGP standings. "I enjoyed today though and we did a good job and made an encouraging start. After a bit of work we were able to do a very good time and I am happy to be in front, it's important at this stage of the championship to make a strong start this weekend. We have one or two things to improve but we are in good shape."

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was the second quickest participant, demonstrating his pace once again with a 1:37.544 time which was 0.359 secs. down on Lorenzo’s hot lap.

Rossi will not be too disappointed to have commenced the Estoril weekend in third place, with a similar time to Pedrosa’s best, 0.421 secs. behind his championship rival Lorenzo at a circuit where he has scored five premier class wins.

Rossi felt that the month away from his Yamaha M1 machine since the previous round at Misano had affected him on Friday.

“This is quite a difficult track to come back to after a long break because the braking is very hard and it's quite stressful on the arms, but I think it will be better on Saturday," he explained. “We have a slight problem in the balance of the bike in these hard braking areas which we need to work on tomorrow to find a way to improve; we're already quite fast but we need to close the gap a bit more so we will make the most of our time tomorrow so that we're in good shape for qualifying.”

Casey Stoner was back on track after a three-round break, taking his beloved Desmosedici GP9 machine round in a best time of 1:37.966 as the fastest Ducati rider on Friday.

“It was a good feeling to be back out there,” Stoner told motogp.com afterwards. “I didn’t watch the last three races, because it is very difficult for a rider who wants to be competing. It has been very difficult to sit at home doing nothing. But today things felt very good.

“I’ve got some slight arm pump issues, which I need to sort out before Saturday, but that happens whenever you are off the bike for too long. To be honest though my physical condition feels much better than in the last races I rode and I’m looking forward to what Saturday brings.

“We are using a new fairing which we will test throughout the weekend back-to-back with the original fairing. We have reduced the side profile of the fairing a lot to try and make the bike easier in windy conditions and also on changes of direction on the fast corners.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards was fifth once again, a position he has found himself in on several occasions in 2009, going round in just over 1:38 on the satellite Yamaha M1 which he will ride again next year.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) were sixth and seventh respectively, while James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) made a late surge from lower down the order into eighth place.

San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis and Pramac Racing’s Mika Kallio completed the top 10.

The MotoGP riders will be back on track on Saturday morning for Free Practice 2.

The fastest 250cc competitor on Friday at the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal was Héctor Barberá, as he took his Pepe World Team Aprilia machine around the Estoril track in 1:40.777, to lead the way by more than half a second.

World Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) was down in the recently unfamiliar territory of 10th place.

A weekend which could conclude with Julián Simón being crowned as the 2009 125cc World Champion commenced with the Spaniard registering the fastest lap by a 1.078-sec. margin in the first free practice on Friday at Estoril.

MotoGP Practice Results
1. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1:37.185 (322.737 km/h)
2. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.359
3. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +0.421
4. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +0.781
5. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +0.918
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +1.059
7. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +1.200
8. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +1.406
9. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +1.444
10. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati +1.476
11. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +1.665
12. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1.793
13. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +1.848
14. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +2.208
15. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +2.382
16. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +2.501
17. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +2.572