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Guintoli goes fastest in second practice

17/08/07

Sylvain Guintoli pulled off a stunning lap, albeit on a Dunlop qualifier, at the end of this afternoon's MotoGP second free practice to top the timesheets and go two tenths of a second faster than Casey Stoner.

The Frenchman, who is looking for a job next year, had popped up into second behind the Ducati man with four minutes to go and then, using his second qualifying tyre, he put the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha in front of Stoner.

 In what had been a fairly uneventful session, Casey and Hopkins shared the initial spoils with Randy DePuniet sitting a couple of tenths off in third. Loris Capirossi leapfrogged him at the end, and Valentino Rossi had to settle for sixth and be the first Michelin rider home.

Stoner said: "I'm very happy to be back on the bike, it felt a little bit alien this morning because it feels like a long time since we were racing, but we've managed to get used to it pretty quick. The track, the tyres, the bike, everything seems to be working pretty well for me, I'm just happy to be back out there and we seem to be quite competitive again."

Rossi knows he has to improve first thing tomorrow, but seemed very laid back: "Today has gone more or less okay for the first day and, as is usual on a Friday, we spent most of the day working on the set-up of our M1.

"This morning was okay and then this afternoon we made some more progress and we found out some interesting things, which we hope will help us tomorrow and on Sunday. Despite this we still have quite a lot to improve on; we can and must be faster!"

Marco Melandri sat the session out as he has managed to put some kind of crick in his neck and shoulder which, in turn, has affected movement down one side of his body. He is receiving treatment from Dr Costa.

Free practice two - conditions dry

1 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'58.362
2 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'58.568
3 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'58.868
4 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'58.969
5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'59.064
6 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'59.176
7 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'59.266
8 1 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'59.466
9 6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'59.494
10 71 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'59.508
11 4 Alex BARROS BRA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'59.738
12 7 Carlos CHECA SPA Honda LCR HONDA 1'59.857
13 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 2'00.001
14 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Honda Gresini HONDA 2'00.271
15 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 2'00.398
16 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Konica Minolta Honda HONDA 2'00.793
17 80 Kurtis ROBERTS USA Team Roberts KR212V 2'01.725
18 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 2'01.854 

Just as we thought it wasn't safe to go back in the water, and the medium-sized white shark that is Casey Stoner was topping the timesheets again, Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins got closer than anyone to stopping the young Aussie.

But close isn't really a fair assessment as Stoner and his Ducati GP7 ran rings around the rest of the MotoGP field this morning in Brno - finishing six tenths of a second in front of Hopper, eight-tenths in front of Loris Capirossi and a massive 1.1s ahead of Valentino Rossi.

Halfway through the session at Brno, the Ducati man had been leading by a tenth and then Hopkins upped his game by two tenths to go quickest but Stoner came back and went quickest again by seven tenths.

The pair swopped tenths here and there but Stoner proved to be more than a match for any of them and is it Laguna Seca all over again?

Free practice one - conditions dry

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'58.881
2 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'59.543
3 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'59.765
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 2'00.017
5 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 2'00.198
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2'00.228
7 1 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2'00.310
8 71 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 2'00.398
9 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 2'00.399
10 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Honda Gresini HONDA 2'00.678
11 7 Carlos CHECA SPA Honda LCR HONDA 2'00.782
12 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 2'00.895
13 4 Alex BARROS BRA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 2'00.988
14 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 2'01.003
15 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Honda Gresini HONDA 2'01.318
16 6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 2'01.433
17 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Konica Minolta Honda HONDA 2'01.559
18 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 2'03.619
19 80 Kurtis ROBERTS USA Team Roberts KR212V 2'03.662