Casey Stoner has laid down an early marker today, setting the fastest time in the first free practice session ahead of the AirAsia Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
The Australian champion showed no signs of his ankle injury as he set a time of 1:30.374, a commanding 0.9s faster than closest rival Jorge Lorenzo.
Stoner’s Repsol Honda Team team-mate Dani Pedrosa was third fastest.
A brief spot of rain threatened the session, however the main shower kept away and riders only missed out a 10 minute portion of practice mid-session.
In fourth spot, over a second and a half off Stoner’s blistering pace, was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso, followed closely by San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista.
A flu-ridden Cal Crutchlow ended the morning in sixth on his Tech 3 Yamaha ahead of Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, while the top CRT spot went to Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet in 10th place.
The only crasher in the 60 minute session was San Carlo’s Michele Pirro, who was able to re-join the session for the final part.
Free Practice 2 will be held at 1510 this afternoon.
Results, Free Practice 1, Phillip Island
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 332.1 | 1’30.374 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 332.4 | 1’31.279 | 0.905 / 0.905 |
| 3 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 334.4 | 1’31.533 | 1.159 / 0.254 |
| 4 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 335.7 | 1’31.968 | 1.594 / 0.435 |
| 5 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 332.8 | 1’32.039 | 1.665 / 0.071 |
| 6 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 336.0 | 1’32.199 | 1.825 / 0.160 |
| 7 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 332.5 | 1’32.312 | 1.938 / 0.113 |
| 8 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 338.0 | 1’32.356 | 1.982 / 0.044 |
| 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 335.0 | 1’32.655 | 2.281 / 0.299 |
| 10 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 317.3 | 1’33.266 | 2.892 / 0.611 |
| 11 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 339.4 | 1’33.376 | 3.002 / 0.110 |
| 12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 335.0 | 1’33.671 | 3.297 / 0.295 |
| 13 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 313.5 | 1’33.727 | 3.353 / 0.056 |
| 14 | 84 | Roberto ROLFO | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 305.1 | 1’35.170 | 4.796 / 1.443 |
| 15 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 315.8 | 1’35.200 | 4.826 / 0.030 |
| 16 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 315.0 | 1’35.411 | 5.037 / 0.211 |
| 17 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 316.7 | 1’35.427 | 5.053 / 0.016 |
| 18 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 314.9 | 1’35.715 | 5.341 / 0.288 |
| 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 313.1 | 1’37.352 | 6.978 / 1.637 | |
| 43 | Kris McLAREN | AUS | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 305.2 | 1’40.657 | 10.283 / 3.305 |
