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stoner nearly nailed by SOME tamada sauce

14/09/07

Tech 3 Yamaha's Makoto Tamada finally showed the MotoGP paddock what he and his Dunlop-shod bike are capable of this afternoon when he lobbed in a qualifying tyre and put himself second on the free practice times sheets, with a cheeky lap less than one tenth behind Casey Stoner.

With one minute to go, the Japanese rider emulated his team-mate Sylvain Guintoli's efforts of a few weeks ago and managed to lap quicker than the entire field - except, of course, for Stoner.

Viewed with what can only be a tedious sense of inevitibility, the 21-year-old Aussie cruised out of pitlane on his Ducati with a little over half the session remaining, went under the 1'38s barrier and nearly stole Kenny Roberts' lap record for good measure. Tamada was the only other rider to lap in the 1'37s bracket with Rossi on a 1'38.120.

There's no doubt the record, 1'37.914 set in 2006, will be slaughtered in qualifying tomorrow, but even Stoner has some way to go to beat the circuit best lap of 1'36.200 which belongs to Valentino Rossi.

Even though Stoner makes it all look so painlessly simple, the rest of the field have closed him down a bit in time from this morning's session with the top 18 riders covered by just 1.1s. Only poor old Kurtis Roberts is off the pace, some four seconds adrift.

MotoGP free practice two - conditions dry

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'37.950
2 6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'37.989
3 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'38.120
4 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'38.201
5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'38.287
6 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'38.471
7 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'38.481
8 1 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'38.518
9 4 Alex BARROS BRA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'38.613
10 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'38.630
11 71 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'38.655
12 7 Carlos CHECA SPA Honda LCR HONDA 1'38.669
13 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'38.723
14 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Konica Minolta Honda HONDA 1'38.761
15 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Honda Gresini HONDA 1'38.843
16 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Honda Gresini HONDA 1'38.919
17 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'39.050
18 66 Alex HOFMANN GER Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'39.117
19 80 Kurtis ROBERTS USA Team Roberts KR212V 1'42.227

Yamaha's Valentino Rossi is fully in touch with the pace of Casey Stoner in Estoril this morning, and finished the first free practice session three tenths of a second off the Aussie's quickest lap.

And Frenchman Randy De Puniet is now sealing his reputation as one of MotoGP's front runners, finishing three tenths behind Rossi during a final minute charge which saw him depose Colin Edwards for third.

Stoner took an early lead in proceedings, putting in a 1'39.707 with Rossi just fractionally slower, then the Italian upped his pace with a 1'38.895 which stood for a good half an hour. Gresini Honda's Toni Elias took second after five minutes with a 1'39.647.

It wasn't until there was 24 minutes left that Stoner came out with all guns blazing, lapping in 1'38.402, but Rossi had his measure and was only a tenth slower. Stoner put in a rapid with 20 minutes to go and Rossi played catch-up for the rest of the session until Stoner cemented his intentions with a 1'38.105 compared to Rossi's 1'38.417.

Team-mate Colin Edwards ended in fourth, six tenths behind Stoner and a resurgent Carlos Checa, on the LCR Honda, was fifth on a 1'38.995.

MotoGP first practice - conditions dry

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'38.105
2 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'38.417
3 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'38.676
4 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'38.677
5 7 Carlos CHECA SPA Honda LCR HONDA 1'38.995
6 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'39.036
7 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'39.048
8 1 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'39.142
9 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Konica Minolta Honda HONDA 1'39.143
10 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Honda Gresini HONDA 1'39.288
11 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'39.446
12 6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'39.461
13 71 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'39.511
14 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Honda Gresini HONDA 1'39.641
15 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'39.817
16 66 Alex HOFMANN GER Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'39.827
17 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'39.928
18 4 Alex BARROS BRA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'40.110
19 80 Kurtis ROBERTS USA Team Roberts KR212V 1'43.011