Jorge Lorenzo got Yamaha's Italian Grand Prix weekend off to a strong start with a commanding performance in the opening MotoGP practice session at Mugello.

The current points leader led the majority of the morning, eventually reaching a time of 1m48.131s with his final lap.

Lorenzo's closest challenger ultimately proved to be Casey Stoner. The Honda rider had a quiet start, spending much of the session near the foot of the top 10, before steadily improving his pace to end up half a second down on the Yamaha.

Sachsenring winner Dani Pedrosa lost second to team-mate Stoner late on, but remained third.

Ducati's home grand prix weekend started relatively well, with Nicky Hayden fourth and Valentino Rossi sixth.

The pair were split by Tech 3 Yamaha pair Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, as Crutchlow made it into the top five despite stopping on track with a mechanical problem on his main bike.

Lorenzo's team-mate Ben Spies had a minor fall when he ran wide through the gravel. There was a similar incident for Gresini Honda rider Alvaro Bautista, who tried his utmost to keep his bike running through the San Donato gravel before ultimately having to tip it onto its side.

That left Bautista at the back of the prototype pack - which is only 11 bikes this weekend with the injured Karel Abraham's Cardion Ducati absent.

Aspar's Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro led the CRT field.

Pos Rider              Bike                        Time               Laps
 1. Jorge Lorenzo      Yamaha                      1m48.131s            17
 2. Casey Stoner       Repsol Honda                1m48.649s  + 0.518   15
 3. Dani Pedrosa       Repsol Honda                1m48.877s  + 0.746   18
 4. Nicky Hayden       Ducati                      1m48.981s  + 0.850   20
 5. Cal Crutchlow      Yamaha Tech 3               1m49.023s  + 0.892   18
 6. Andrea Dovizioso   Yamaha Tech 3               1m49.038s  + 0.907   19
 7. Valentino Rossi    Ducati                      1m49.074s  + 0.943   19
 8. Hector Barbera     Pramac Ducati               1m49.166s  + 1.035   17
 9. Ben Spies          Yamaha                      1m49.398s  + 1.267   12
10. Stefan Bradl       LCR Honda                   1m49.438s  + 1.307   19
11. Alvaro Bautista    Honda Gresini               1m49.688s  + 1.557   16
12. Randy De Puniet    Power Electronics Aspar     1m50.949s  + 2.818   16
13. Aleix Espargaro    Power Electronics Aspar     1m51.101s  + 2.970   16
14. Mattia Pasini      Speed Master                1m51.253s  + 3.122   19
15. Michele Pirro      Honda Gresini               1m51.835s  + 3.704   17
16. Yonny Hernandez    Avintia Blusens             1m51.973s  + 3.842   20
17. Colin Edwards      NGM Mobile Forward Racing   1m52.154s  + 4.023   14
18. Danilo Petrucci    Came IodaRacing Project     1m52.952s  + 4.821   18
19. James Ellison      Paul Bird Motorsport        1m53.390s  + 5.259   17
20. Ivan Silva         Avintia Blusens             1m53.931s  + 5.800   18