Rossi starts on top in Australia

From motogp.com

After his disappointment at Estoril two weeks ago Valentino Rossi struck a psychological blow with the best time in first free practice at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix.

The World Champion got straight on the pace on Friday, setting the fastest time in FP1 by a 0.135-sec. margin in cool, calm and dry conditions at Phillip Island.

The six-time premier class title winner wants to maintain or increase his 18-point championship lead this weekend ahead of the final two rounds of the season.

Rossi looked comfortable throughout the session and completed 31 laps of the island circuit, registering his best effort of 1:31.032 on his 10th turn around the 4.448km track.

“I am happy because we’ve started in a good way, which is very important because there is not a lot of time,” said Rossi. “I’m at the top in first position and I am constant with all the tires.

“We especially hope that the temperature remains like this for the rest of the weekend. We studied a lot of data and maybe we understood the mistake, in fact this time we worked more like we did in Misano, and we hope to arrive on Sunday with a better bike.

“We can definitely improve more – even though we already have a good pace we will continue to work tomorrow and try to find a little bit more, but for the first day I think we can be very happy about our work.”

Commenting on rumours in the Italian press of a switch to Ducati next season, Rossi was clear in his dismissal.

“Sincerely I don’t understand why,” he stated. “Especially because it is 100 per cent impossible, because I have a contract with Yamaha. So it is not possible to go to Ducati next year, but also because I don’t want to!”

Second fastest was Australia’s Casey Stoner – the winner of his home race for the last two years – as he registered his fastest time on the very last of his 22 laps on the Ducati Marlboro Desmosedici GP9.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) is looking to make amends for his crash in last year’s race and will be aiming for the podium this weekend after starting with the third best time of the first session. The Spaniard was half a second down on Rossi’s pace.

Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) were fourth and fifth respectively on their satellite 800cc prototypes, both lapping within a second of Rossi.

It was certainly a case of ‘first round’ to Rossi in the psychological battle with his main championship rival and team-mate Jorge Lorenzo as the Majorcan rider lowsided near the end of the session and could only manage the sixth best time of the afternoon – more than a second off the Italian’s hot lap.

"A lot of things went wrong,” said Lorenzo. “We came here after winning in Portugal, but in the first practice we found some problems, especially on the rear tire which slid and spun so much.

"Personally I think I am not 100 per cent, because last night I ate some food and am not in good shape. So now I feel very bad and tired. I hope tomorrow I am better. We will try to improve the rear grip. If we can improve this, and I can improve my physical condition, we can be closer to the first position.”

The top 10 was completed by James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki).

Toseland and Kallio both had low speed crashes, whilst Kallio’s colleague Niccolò Canepa also hit the deck and was taken to the medical centre for a check-up on his right elbow - and has since been ruled out for the rest of the Grand Prix.

Héctor Barberá (Pepe World) took a heavy blow to his back on Friday when he high-sided at the Australian circuit - after setting the best lap time of the 250cc FP1 run.

The MotoGP-bound Spaniard ended the session in the medical centre after losing control of his Aprilia prototype on his 18th lap, having set the best time of the practice (1:34.338) on his 12th turn of the track. Barberá’s condition was described afterwards as not serious, with bruising to his back.

Meanwhile, the 250cc category’s leading riders all underperformed on Friday, with World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) down in 10th place and a second off the pace, while title candidate Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) was 11th, 1.197 secs. behind Barberá. Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) was 12th on the timesheet as he trailed the paceman by a second and a half.

Winner of two races in the last three rounds, Derbi Racing rider Pol Espargaró headed the 125cc timesheet as the minutes ticked away and as the riders improved their times in the final moments he asserted his authority with a 1:38.435 lap of the picturesque island circuit on the last of his 27 laps to complete the practice ahead of his rivals.

MotoGP Practice Times
1. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1:31.032 (317.491km/h)
2. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +0.135
3. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.496
4. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +0.754
5. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +0.814
6. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +1.045
7. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +1.223
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +1.470
9. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati +1.540
10. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1.574
11. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +1.739
12. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +1.776
13. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +2.272
14. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +2.390
15. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +2.472
16. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +2.786
17. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +3.514