Casey Stoner has come off last week’s MotoGP victory in Spain still on the pace setting the fastest time in Friday practice for the Grand Prix of Portugal at Estoril.
The Australian Repsol Honda rider topped the time sheets with a 1:38.396 on a drying track to head American Ben Spies on a Yamaha with Cal Crutchlow (UK) in third on the Tech3 Yamaha.
“We did a few laps this morning to try and understand the bike, to make sure everything was working and like Jerez we wanted to see where the wet patches were on the track,” said Stoner.
“Then this afternoon, unfortunately there were still areas of the track that hadn’t dried out but we managed to get some good dry time, the bike seems to be working OK at this point and we have a fairly good idea of what we need to do tomorrow”
Dani Pedrosa finished in fourth position after a tight battle between the Honda and Yamaha.
FRIDAY PRACTICE : Grande Premio De Portugal – Circuito Estoril
|
Pos. |
Rider |
Nation |
Team |
Bike |
Time |
| 1 | Casey Stoner | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1:38.396 |
| 2 | Ben Spies | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.321 |
| 3 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +0.346 |
| 4 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.401 |
| 5 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.534 |
| 6 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | +0.563 |
| 7 | Nicky Hayden | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.633 |
| 8 | Hector Barbera | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | +0.797 |
| 9 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.961 |
| 10 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +1.219 |
| 11 | Karel Abraham | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | +1.811 |
| 12 | Stefan Bradl | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | +2.502 |
| 13 | Randy de Puniet | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | +2.692 |
| 14 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | +3.238 |
| 15 | Yonny Hernandez | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | +3.242 |
| 16 | Mattia Pasini | ITA | Speed Master | ART | +3.577 |
| 17 | Michele Pirro | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | +3.856 |
| 18 | Colin Edwards | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | +4.191 |
| 19 | Ivan Silva | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | +4.408 |
| 20 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | +4.588 |
| 21 | James Ellison | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | +5.269 |
Here is the Foxsports News report
