Randy DePuniet was the surprise in today’s free practice at Assen when he hit the top of the timesheets clocking in at 1.37.842.
The Frenchman’s LCR Honda donned a pair of soft tires in the final minutes of the practice and taking a tow from Chris Vermeulen, bumped off Valentino Rossi from the top of the charts by 0.005s.

Casey Stoner was 3rd just 0.035 off DePuniet, putting in more runs than he usual does, while Jorge Lorenzo was fourth.

Andrea Dovizioso fifth, using the Honda chassis that he tested at Barcelona and team mate Dani Pedrosa, who is still recovering from a cracked bone was sixth.

Colin Edwards who was running first during the middle stages of the practice was seventh, but only 0.363s from today’s leader.

Chris Vermeulen eighth, James Toseland ninth, and looking a little more confortable on his Bridgestone tires while Loris Capirossi closed the top ten, less than 6 tenths of second from DePuniet.

Alex DeAngelis was 11th, Nicky Hayden 12th on his factory Ducati ahead of Pramac rookie Mika Kallio.

Marco Melandri is also riding injured, after a highside during the Barcelona test was down to 14th, but ahead of Toni Elias. Sete Giberanu was 16th.

Yuki Takahashi who is nursing a broken finger from the first lap crash at Catalunya, crashed again during practice and was seen limping away, managed to finish 17th. Niccolò Canepa isn’t last anymore, that spot was taken by necomer Gabor Talmacsi who was 19th.

With eleven riders in less that seven tenths of second, tomorrow’s qualifying should be interesting.

MotoGP FP1 Results:

01 Randy De Puniet - LCR Honda MotoGP - Honda RC212V - 1′37.842
02 Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha Team - Yamaha YZR M1 - + 0.005
03 Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - Ducati Desmosedici GP9 - + 0.035
04 Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha Team - Yamaha YZR M1 - + 0.219
05 Andrea Dovizioso - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC212V - + 0.250
06 Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC212V - + 0.352
07 Colin Edwards - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - Yamaha YZR M1 - + 0.363
08 Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - Suzuki GSV-R - + 0.508
09 James Toseland - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - Yamaha YZR M1 - + 0.537
10 Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - Suzuki GSV-R - + 0.587
11 Alex De Angelis - San Carlo Honda Gresini - Honda RC212V - + 0.653
12 Nicky Hayden - Ducati Marlboro Team - Ducati Desmosedici GP9 - + 1.086
13 Mika Kallio - Pramac Racing - Ducati Desmosedici GP9 - + 1.622
14 Marco Melandri - Hayate Racing Team - Kawasaki ZX-RR - + 1.755
15 Toni Elias - San Carlo Honda Gresini - Honda RC212V - + 1.800
16 Sete Gibernau - Grupo Francisco Hernando - Ducati Desmosedici GP9 - + 2.309
17 Yuki Takahashi - Scot Racing Team MotoGP - Honda RC212V - + 2.343
18 Niccolo Canepa - Pramac Racing - Ducati Desmosedici GP9 - + 3.178
19 Gabor Talmacsi - Scot Racing Team MotoGP - Honda RC212V - + 3.538

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