
In this afternoon’s free practice at Mugello, it was Jorge Lorenzo who lead the pack, beating out fellow team mate Valentino Rossi who is looking for his 8th consecutive win at Mugello and Ducati rider Casey Stoner with a hot lap of 1’49”870.
Lorenzo was the only rider able to go under the 1.50 mark three times and also break Casey Stoner’s official lap record of 1’50”003 and while 4th place Pedrosa with his Repsol Honda hit a top speed of 349,3 Km/h, two kilometers faster than Loris Capirossi’s previous record on the Ducati.
Valentino Rossi was second, less than two tenths from Lorenzo, while Casey Stoner was right behind Rossi by less than one tenth. Dani Pedrosa was fourth almost a second off pace from Lorenzo.
Colin Edwards was fifth, 1.021sec from Lorenzo, while Alex DeAngelis was sixth with his satellite Gresini Honda and seventh Loris Capirossi, who is still waiting for a new and more powerful engine from Suzuki, Randy DePuniet was 8th, while Andrea Dovizioso was only ninth.
Marco Melandri after his stunning 2nd place in LeMans closed the top ten with his Hayate. James Toseland 11th, Toni Elias 12th and Chris Vermeulen 13th. Niccolò Canepa on his home circuit finished 14th after a fall, while Nicky Hayden on the factory Ducati, was last for most of the session was finally able to put rookie riders Yuki Takahashi on the Scot Honda and Mika Kallio, Pramac Racing behind him.
Sete Gibernau is not present and still recuperating after surgery and his Team Grupo Francisco Hernando decided to not replace him.
Free Practice 1 Results:
1 Jorge LORENZO 1′49.870
2 Valentino ROSSI 1′50.065
3 Casey STONER 1′50.144
4 Dani PEDROSA 1′50.808
5 Colin EDWARDS 1′50.891
6 Alex DE ANGELIS 1′50.898
7 Loris CAPIROSSI 1′51.007
8 Randy DE PUNIET 1′51.030
9 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 1′51.206
10 Marco MELANDRI 1′51.359
11 James TOSELAND 1′51.401
12 Toni ELIAS 1′51.823
13 Chris VERMEULEN 1′51.994
14 Niccolo CANEPA 1′52.319
15 Nicky HAYDEN 1′52.403
16 Yuki TAKAHASHI 1′52.607
17 Mika KALLIO 1′52.619