Stoner quickest in final practice

Date published : 07 Nov 2009 - 10:14:10

Casey Stoner was once again the fastest man at Valencia, in this morning's second and final MotoGP practice session.The Ducati rider exchanged positions at the top of the timesheets a few times with Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo in the first third of the one-hour session, then stayed in front of everyone else for the remainder of the running.Stoner broke the 1m33s mark with only a handful of seconds remaining, with his lap time of 1m32.819s good enough to fend off a very late challenge from Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who ended up second, 0.168s behind the Australian.That effort by the Spaniard, however, put him ahead of compatriot Lorenzo, who had been second for most of the session and was unable to match Pedrosa's time in his own final effort.Lorenzo thus had to settle for third fastest, followed by his newly re-crowned team-mate Valentino Rossi in fourth, almost three tenths further behind.Nicky Hayden was fifth in the second works Ducati, eight tenths behind Stoner. The American made a fine save by avoiding the barriers and rejoining the track after running off in the gravel with five minutes remaining.Honda's Andrea Dovizioso was sixth, followed by Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Alex de Angelis (Gresini Honda) and Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati).World Superbike champion Ben Spies, entered by Yamaha as a wildcard, improved on yesterday's 15th time by being 12th quickest today.Pos Rider Team Time Laps 1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m32.819s 24 2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1m32.987s + 0.168s 28 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m33.065s + 0.246s 29 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m33.354s + 0.535s 26 5. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m33.664s + 0.845s 29 6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m33.717s + 0.898s 29 7. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m33.784s + 0.965s 27 8. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m33.857s + 1.038s 29 9. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m34.004s + 1.185s 2710. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m34.089s + 1.270s 2811. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m34.111s + 1.292s 2612. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m34.196s + 1.377s 2713. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m34.210s + 1.391s 2814. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m34.407s + 1.588s 2515. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m34.626s + 1.807s 2916. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m34.673s + 1.854s 2617. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m34.693s + 1.874s 2518. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda 1m34.871s + 2.052s 25