Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner led the way in this morning's first Misano MotoGP free practice but was pushed all the way by Tech3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards, who ended the hour session just two-one thousandths of a second slower than the Aussie.
It a remarkable return to form, the Michelin tyres of Edwards seemed to come to him towards the end of the session as he picked up second place with 15 minutes of the session remaining and then set about chasing down Stoner.
Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi was in contention for the whole session until he was leap-frogged by his former team-mate, and then his new team-mate Lorenzo went quicker, followed by local rider Alex De Angelis.
Injured Nicky Hayden made a strong start to the weekend, holding third fastest at the top of the hour before slipping down the order. He rallied to finish up in sixth place, one second off the pace. Andrea Dovizioso was seventh.
Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen has been as high as second but his laps tailed off towards the end and he ended in eighth while Britain's James Toseland had a solid session in ninth but is more than a second slower than team-mate Edwards.
Kawasaki's John Hopkins missed the session as he was receiving treatment for a rib injury he has picked up.
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