Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo finished top of the timesheets in today's first day of MotoGP testing at Jerez but he was pushed close by team-mate Valentino Rossi.

The Spaniard put in a 1'39.791 lap which was less than a tenth of a second quicker than The Doctor with Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner in third place, just over a tenth off Lorenzo.
“I am very satisfied because I have improved through every hour of the day today. In the beginning it was quite difficult because there was rain this morning and the track was wet, but after lunch I was able to improve and was fastest for most of the afternoon and able to put in a great performance," said Lorenzo.

"I rode many laps – the same amount as my new number in fact – and I was able to confirm the good feeling that I had on the last day in Qatar, when I was second. We still need to keep working, this is just the beginning, but I think we’re going in the right way.

"Tomorrow I want to make one more step, but I am not thinking about winning the car. With regards to the Bridgestone tyres, I think the front is very different and you are able to go faster into the corners. I hope the sun shines again tomorrow!”

Stoner and Rossi held the top spot for most of the afternoon after an early rain shower saw a lot of the top riders not bothering until after lunch. Marco Melandri  made the early pace, followed by Monster Yamaha's James Toeland.

But as the weather began to dry, it was down to the usual suspects to take up the running. Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capriossi and Chris Vermeulen were the first to push the former world champions hard before Colin Edwards started charging, taking second at one point.

Toseland and Melandri slowly sank down the leaderboard as times dropped but the Briton ended up in 11th with the Hayate bike running an almost identical time, around 1.3s off the pace.

Times to come