Lorenzo dominates opening day at Brno

From motogp.com

Jorge Lorenzo picked up where he left off as the MotoGP class returned to action at Brno on Friday following a three-week summer break.

The Championship leader set the quickest lap of the first practice at the Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic with a best time of 1:57.215 on his Fiat Yamaha M1, in a session that encountered rain in its final 15 minutes.

"I am happy to be riding here in Brno again. It's always difficult to go back to work after the holidays and this track is so different to Laguna, so wide and much longer; it took me a few more laps than usual to get going,” explained the 23-year-old, who already has six wins under his belt from the nine rounds so far this year.

“Once I found my rhythm this was a good session and I felt happy on my bike, with a good setting to start from. We tried both rear tires and we need more time to choose, because unfortunately it rained a bit at the end and we had to stop early."

At 0.541 secs. off Lorenzo’s pace was Dani Pedrosa as the Repsol Honda man set about mounting another challenge to the dominance of his compatriot. Pedrosa was leading the last round at Laguna Seca when he crashed.

Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) completed the top three as the reigning World Champion timed in at just six-hundredths of a second off Pedrosa, displaying further progress on his way back to full fitness.

Close on his tail was fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), who was the fourth and final rider under the 1:58 bar in the hour-long session.

Nicky Hayden was the highest placing Ducati on his factory machine at just over a full second off the top time, with Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) completing the top eight on the timesheet.

Rookie Simoncelli experienced the only crash of the session early on, which did little to dent his confidence.

Making his return to action less than four weeks after suffering a broken left leg at Sachsenring was Randy de Puniet, with the LCR Honda rider 16th at just under three seconds off Lorenzo.

A fast lap three minutes from the end of the first Moto2 practice session at Brno handed Fonsi Nieto top spot on the timesheet on Friday afternoon, as the Spaniard beat home rider Karel Abraham to the top time by a margin of just 0.002 secs.

Nico Terol’s return from injury could not have gone much better for the Spaniard as he set the fastest time in the first 125cc practice at Brno with a fast lap of 2:08.010.

The Bancaja Aspar rider, who missed the last round at Sachsenring due to the injuries he sustained in a crash at Catalunya, was strong in the session as he improved his time by half a second towards the end.

That placed him an impressive 0.507 secs. ahead of team-mate Bradley Smith, who with a solid penultimate lap rose to second on the timesheet, ahead of Championship leader Marc Márquez.

The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider had a crash at the very end which resulted in a dislocation of the left shoulder.

MotoGP Practice Results
1. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha 1:57.215
2. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda 1:57.756
3. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha 1:57.821
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda 1:57.873
5. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati 1:58.286
6. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:58.497
7. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati 1:58.532
8. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:58.840
9. Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:58.970
10. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki 1:59.204
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki 1:59.216
12. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Ducati 1:59.254
13. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Ducati 1:59.289
14. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:59.510
15. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1:59.910
16. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda 2:00.184
17. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) Interwetten Honda 2:01.098