Dani Pedrosa made a fast return to MotoGP action after the short summer break in Brno this morning, the Spaniard dominating the opening free practice session at the Czech Republic track. After Marco Simoncelli made the early running in dry but overcast conditions, Pedrosa ended the 45-minute session with an impressive best time of 1.56.328. That put the Spaniard a massive 0.966s clear of Repsol Honda team-mate Casey Stoner, who grabbed second with a 1.57.294. The Australian was the only rider to finish inside of a second of Pedrosa this morning. San Carlo Gresini Honda rider Simoncelli finished third but suffered a late crash when he lost the front-end of his factory RC212V machine in a left-hand turn. He walked away unhurt and set a best time of 1.57.408. Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo was fourth but he was a massive 1.259s behind compatriot Pedrosa. John Hopkins impressed on the Suzuki GSV-R, the American clocking the seventh best time. The current BSB title contender, who is making a wild card appearance for Suzuki in Brno, set a best time of 1.58.321 to finish 0.024s ahead of Suzuki regular Alvaro Bautista. It was another nightmare session for Ducati with Valentino Rossi the fastest Bologna factory rider in a disappointing 11th. The nine-times world champion could only manage a best time of 1.58.819 to finish 2.491s behind Pedrosaâs best pace. The six Ducatis sat between 11th and 17th places with Nicky Hayden struggling in 14th. 1. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, Honda 299.5, 1'56.328 2. Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda Team, Honda 296.7, 1'57.294, 0.966 / 0.966 3. Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini, Honda 291.5, 1'57.408, 1.080 / 0.114 4. Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Yamaha 295.0, 1'57.587, 1.259 / 0.179 5. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda Team, Honda 295.2, 1'57.776, 1.448 / 0.189 6. Ben Spies, Yamaha Factory Racing, Yamaha 290.8, 1'57.903, 1.575 / 0.127 7. John Hopkins, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, Suzuki 293.0, 1'58.321, 1.993 / 0.418 8. Alvaro Bautista, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, Suzuki 294.4, 1'58.345, 2.017 / 0.024 9. Cal Crutchlow, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Yamaha 292.3, 1'58.390, 2.062 / 0.045 10. Colin Edwards, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Yamaha 292.4, 1'58.497, 2.169 / 0.107 11. Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team, Ducati 292.0, 1'58.819, 2.491 / 0.322 12. Randy De Puniet, Pramac Racing Team, Ducati 291.0, 1'58.927, 2.599 / 0.108 13. Hector Barbera, Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP, Ducati 297.8, 1'58.973, 2.645 / 0.046 14. Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team, Ducati 290.5, 1'58.975, 2.647 / 0.002 15. Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini, Honda 296.5, 1'59.289, 2.961 / 0.314 16. Karel Abraham, Cardion AB Motoracing, Ducati 293.9, 1'59.334, 3.006 / 0.045 17. Loris Capirossi, Pramac Racing Team, Ducati 290.2, 1'59.706, 3.378 / 0.372 18. Toni Elias, LCR Honda MotoGP, Honda 294.0, 2'00.201, 3.873 / 0.495
Great to see Hopkins back, and two Suzukis on the track. More like old times. Free practice is all about experiments. We'll see what it's all about tomorrow. Oops, I mean today [just seen the clock]. Plus, of course, Sunday morning's warm up is a big indicator of what is about to happen. How did the GP125 and Moto2 chappies go..?
moto gp results 1 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 164.8 43'16.796 2 20 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 164.4 +6.532 3 16 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 164.3 +7.792 4 13 1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 164.2 +8.513 5 11 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 164.1 +10.186 6 10 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 164.0 +12.632 7 9 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 163.3 +23.037 8 8 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 163.3 +24.189 9 7 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 163.2 +25.202 10 6 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 162.5 +36.566 11 5 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 162.5 +36.679 12 4 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 162.5 +37.109 13 3 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 161.7 +48.911
Moto 2 1 25 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Speed Master Suter 157.3 41'13.255 2 20 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol Suter 157.3 +0.161 3 16 65 Stefan BRADL GER Viessmann Kiefer Racing Kalex 157.3 +0.407 4 13 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM JIR Moto2 Motobi 157.2 +0.870 5 11 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Suter 157.0 +4.225 6 10 40 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 156.4 +13.636 7 9 34 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens-STX FTR 156.4 +13.647 8 8 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag-CIP Suter 156.4 +14.365 9 7 3 Simone CORSI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 156.4 +14.617 10 6 54 Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Technomag-CIP Suter 155.9 +21.383
125 1 25 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Intact-Racing Team Germany Aprilia 150.3 40'59.229 2 20 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo Derbi 150.3 +0.397 3 16 23 Alberto MONCAYO SPA Andalucia Banca Civica Aprilia 149.6 +10.773 4 13 55 Hector FAUBEL SPA Bankia Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia 149.6 +10.794 5 11 33 Sergio GADEA SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Aprilia 149.6 +11.144 6 10 25 Maverick VIÃALES SPA Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Aprilia 149.6 +11.473 7 9 84 Jakub KORNFEIL CZE Ongetta-Centro Seta Aprilia 148.8 +24.720 8 8 15 Simone GROTZKYJ ITA Phonica Racing Aprilia 147.9 +39.982 9 7 63 Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN MAL Airasia-Sic-Ajo Derbi 147.7 +42.887 10 6 53 Jasper IWEMA NED Ongetta-Abbink Metaal Aprilia 147.7 +43.023 11 5 3 Luigi MORCIANO ITA Team Italia FMI Aprilia 147.7 +43.183 12 4 99 Danny WEBB GBR Mahindra Racing Mahindra 147.7 +43.675 13 3 21 Harry STAFFORD GBR Ongetta-Centro Seta Aprilia 147.6 +43.764 14 2 77 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Mahindra Racing Mahindra 147.6 +44.076 15 1 96 Louis ROSSI FRA Matteoni Racing Aprilia 147.3 +50.240
Have seen the GP125 and Moto2 races, and they were crackers, but I haven't bothered with the MotoGP event. I'm saving it for a quiet moment.