Casey Stoner returned to the front in final MotoGP practice at Laguna Seca, while his title rival Jorge Lorenzo had a massive crash.
World champion Lorenzo’s violent high-side came at Turn 5 on his last lap. He landed heavily and was hit by his Yamaha as they slid through the run-off.
After some anxious moments in which Lorenzo lay in the sand trap holding his right leg, the Spaniard managed to stand up and limp away with assistance from medics.
By the halfway point, they were within 0.083s of each other, with the margin then closing to first 0.066s, then 0.049s by the end, with Stoner and Pedrosa 0.017s apart in first and second.
Behind Lorenzo, Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda) beat Ben Spies’ Yamaha and Andrea Dovizioso’s Honda to fourth. Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Steadily holding fourth place for the second session in a row is Marco Simoncelli, who posted a time of 1’22.222. The Italian was followed by Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), who again ranked fifth in the field, posting a time one tenth of a second behind the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was just behind the American with a lap of 1’22.356.
Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden chose to ride the GP11 for the morning outing, finishing in seventh with a best lap of 1’22.432, while team mate Valentino Rossi on the GP11.1 machine trailed 0.215s behind the Kentuckian. The Ducati duo were followed by Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who was on what appeared to be a fast lap until he nearly ran off the track completely at turn 11.
Héctor Barberá had a bit of trouble at the corkscrew, missing the line at the top and running it straight down the hill slightly out of control. The Spaniard was ninth in the session while Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) set a time of 1’23.062 ranked him tenth.
Next was Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) with Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in tow, who has enjoyed learning the special circuit as evidenced by his smiles during garage stops and his wheelie-ing around the track. Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), also still deep in the process of learning the track, followed in 14th. motogp.com
Pos. Num. Rider Team Time
1 27 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 1'21.806
2 26 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1'21.823
3 1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 1'21.855
4 58 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'22.222
5 11 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 1'22.325
6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1'22.356
7 69 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1'22.432
8 46 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 1'22.647
9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'22.840
10 8 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1'22.877
11 5 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'23.062
12 14 Randy DE PUNIET Pramac Racing Team 1'23.080
13 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'23.143
14 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'23.513
15 17 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1'23.544
16 65 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1'24.038
17 24 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1'24.056
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