Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa has finally showed his MotoGP race potential at Jerez this morning, setting the fastest time in second free practice just a fraction ahead of countryman Jorge Lorenzo.
But the big shock came as yesterday's fastest man Valentino Rossi, who was the only rider to get into the 1'39s laps in first practice, is languishing in the middle order only managing seventh fastest and slower than his time yesterday.
It took only ten minutes for Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner to hit the top of the timesheets, putting in a 1'40.539 lap which was good enough for him to remain fastest until Pedrosa clicked in his quickest time on the half hour.
It was then down to Lorenzo and Stoner to battle it out for the second-place spot but the Australian couldn't better his earlier time, set on lap three of 16, while Lorenzo's quickest waqs set on lap 18 of 22, just 0.054s shy of Pedrosa.
Rossi, meanwhile, is nearly a second off the pace on a 1'40.244, also set early in his session, giving rise to speculation both he and Stoner are concentrating on a race setup this morning.
Randy De Puniet and Andrea Dovizioso battled for the fourth fastest time, with the Frenchman coming out on top with Colin Edwards, who had been as high as second, finishing just in front of Rossi.
Britain's James Toseland finished the 45-minute session in 15th place, just behind Sete Gibernau.
