Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner has fired a fast warning shot across the bows of his MotoGP rivals in the first free practice session at Silverstone this morning, lapping more than a half a second faster than anyone else.
The Australian former champion went round in 2'03.748 which was the best part of a second ahead of the pack until Marco Simoncelli reduced the gap to 0.659s with his last lap. Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo is third on a 2'04.756 which is a second off the pace. Marlboro Ducati's Nicky Hayden is fourth but only 0.22s off the reigning world champion.
Stoner put in the first significant lap with a 2'04.757 with Gresini Honda's Simoncelli in second half a second behind and Hayden in third while Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow slid into fourth with a 2'05.671 before he was deposed by Lorenzo a lap later.
The Australian then went half a second quicker with his tenth lap as Crutchlow bagged second on a 2'05.123, Lorenzo third on a 2'05.160, Simoncell fourth with a 2'05.186 and Ben Spies fifth two tenths further back. With ten minutes left, Stoner finally broke the 2'04 barrier on a 2'03.748 which was never bettered while Simoncelli, Lorenzo and Crutchlow making up the top four.
As the session came to an end, Hayden put in a run of laps which saw him break into fifth and then fourth while Andrea Dovizioso slipped into fifth which demoted Crutchlow to sixth in the final minute. Spies ended the hour in seventh and 1.4s off the pace.
Mapfre Ducati's Hector Barbera is eighth with Alvaro Bautista in ninth and Randy De Puniet rounding out the top ten. Loris Capirossi crashed unhurt at the final chicane. Valentino Rossi, who has only ridden around Silverstone on an 1198S road bike, is in 12th place. He an off-track moment going into the first turn but didn't tip off. The Doctor is more than three seconds off the pace. Colin Edwards, who is riding with a broken collarbone, was only five seconds off the pace in 16th.
