Casey Stoner has continued with his perfect form in Valencia by dominating the warm-up, just like every other session this weekend. The Ducati rider, who ran less than everyone else, stopped the clock at 1m32.856sec when the 20-minute session had just passed its halfway mark. At that time, all his rivals were well over one second slower than he was.
By the end of the session, Valentino Rossi managed to edge closer and closer, albeit a full six tenths slower than Stoner. However, after struggling in yesterday's free practice and qualifying a distant fourth, the Yamaha rider may have reasons to be optimistic to fight for the podium in the race.
Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) was third quickest, almost nine tenths behind Stoner, followed by Nicky Hayden (Ducati) and the two Yamahas of the impressive Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo. The latter three riders are all within five thousandths of a second of each other, almost a full second behind Stoner..
Honda's Andrea Dovizioso set the seventh fastest time, with Pramac Ducati's Mika Kallio, Gresini Honda's Alex de Angelis and Hayate Kawasaki's Marco Melandri completing the top 10. Dani Pedrosa, who qualified his Honda in second position yesterday, was only 11th in this morning session, 1.3sec behind Stoner.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m32.856s 8
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m33.460s + 0.604s 12
3. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m33.744s + 0.888s 12
4. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m33.820s + 0.964s 13
5. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m33.823s + 0.967s 12
6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m33.825s + 0.969s 12
7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m33.934s + 1.078s 12
8. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m33.945s + 1.089s 12
9. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m34.017s + 1.161s 13
10. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m34.105s + 1.249s 12
11. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1m34.187s + 1.331s 12
12. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m34.351s + 1.495s 12
13. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m34.378s + 1.522s 12
14. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m34.516s + 1.660s 12
15. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m34.615s + 1.759s 11
16. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m34.638s + 1.782s 12
17. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda 1m34.897s + 2.041s 12
18. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m35.167s + 2.311s 10