2011 MotoGP
Up until the last few minutes of the first free practice at Misano, Round 13 of the 2011 MotoGP Championship, the top time looked to go to either Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa or Yamaha Factory Racing Ben Spies.
Pedrosa, who won last year at Misano, lead the beginning of the 45-minute session, but was topped by the American Spies.
But the current points leader Casey Stoner put in a fierce last lap, piloting his Repsol Honda RC212V to the top spot; the Australian posted a 1:34.180, which was 0.286 of a second faster than Spies, and 0.349 of a second quicker than Pedrosa.
Fourth quickest in FP1 was the third and final Repsol Honda rider, Andrea Dovizioso; he posted a 1:35.011 at Misano, and was followed 0.077 back by San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli.
Taking the sixth through eighth positions were three Spaniards – Yamaha Facotory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, Mapfre Aspar Ducati’s Hector Barbera and Rizla Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista.
The American Colin Edwards was ninth quickest aboard the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1, followed by Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati’s Karel Abraham.
Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi continued struggling with the GP11.1, posting the 11th quickest time; his teammate, the third American on the 2011 MotoGP grid, Nicky Hayden was 13th fastest.
The riders will be back on the 2.6-mile Misano circuit for FP2 this afternoon.
2011 Misano MotoGP Free Practice 1 Results
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 278.1 | 1’34.180 | |
| 2. | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 271.6 | 1’34.466 | 0.286 / 0.286 |
| 3. | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 279.4 | 1’34.529 | 0.349 / 0.063 |
| 4. | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 276.2 | 1’35.011 | 0.831 / 0.482 |
| 5. | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 272.4 | 1’35.088 | 0.908 / 0.077 |
| 6. | 1 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 272.5 | 1’35.142 | 0.962 / 0.054 |
| 7. | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 274.5 | 1’35.480 | 1.300 / 0.338 |
| 8. | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 275.3 | 1’35.579 | 1.399 / 0.099 |
| 9. | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 268.3 | 1’35.589 | 1.409 / 0.010 |
| 10. | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 271.1 | 1’35.688 | 1.508 / 0.099 |
| 11. | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 273.4 | 1’35.745 | 1.565 / 0.057 |
| 12. | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 270.3 | 1’35.950 | 1.770 / 0.205 |
| 13. | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 276.6 | 1’35.960 | 1.780 / 0.010 |
| 14. | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 276.1 | 1’36.067 | 1.887 / 0.107 |
| 15. | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 271.4 | 1’36.513 | 2.333 / 0.446 |
| 16. | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 270.0 | 1’36.646 | 2.466 / 0.133 |
| 17. | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 275.6 | 1’37.308 | 3.128 / 0.662 |
