Valentino Rossi declared himself content with his fourth position at the end of first practice for his crucial home race in Misano. Rossi is chasing a third successive victory at Misano and he thrilled his army of yellow-clad fans early in the session when he topped the timesheets. The reigning world champion ended the session with the fourth-quickest time, a 1.35.539 on his 30th and final lap moving him ahead of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Colin Edwards and Ben Spies. The 31-year-old though would have been in contention with Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo and compatriot Andrea Dovizioso less than 0.2s ahead of him. Rossi clearly has work to do with Spaniard Dani Pedrosa dominating the session with a best lap of 1.34.772, putting him a massive 0.767s clear of the nine-time world champion.

Rossi, who has scored only one podium since he returned from the broken right leg he suffered in Mugello earlier this season, said: “It was quite a good first practice. We improved the setting of the bike at the end and I was able to do some good lap times. We worked also with the tires that are a big question mark between the soft and hard. We have to check but I feel quite good. Unfortunately this track is more demanding for my shoulder because there are two or three right braking points that give me some pain. But with the cooler temperatures compared to Indianapolis it is easier. I’m only fourth so it is not a fantastic position but very close to Lorenzo and Dovizioso. Today the pace and the lap time of Pedrosa was quite impressive.”

Rossi also spoke about his hopes that Aussie crew chief, Jerry Burgess, will move to Ducati with him next season. Burgess and Rossi’s loyal crew will quit Yamaha en masse to move to the Bologna factory in 2011. Yamaha had requested Burgess and the crew inform factory management of their plans by the end of this weekend’s Misano clash.

“For me it is very important they come with me,” Rossi said. “For me it would be positive and perfect if they come with me. It is a life choice, especially for Jerry. I give to him enough time to decide and we are not in a hurry. If he decides to stop unfortunately I can’t say anything because it is a life choice. When Jerry decides I am ready.”

Casey Stoner denied his lowly eighth-place in today’s opening practice for the Misano MotoGP race was a cause for major concern. The Australian was trailing 1.300s off Dani Pedrosa’s fastest pace on a warm but breezy start to the 12th round of the 2010 campaign. Continuing to use a new set of 2011 spec Ohlins front forks he first raced with in Indianapolis last weekend, the 24-year-old could only set a best time of 1.36.072. That put him 0.044s adrift of American teammate Nicky Hayden, but Stoner denied he was already facing another tough weekend. He also tested a new triple clamp in today’s practice session.

“It wasn’t a fantastic day but not so bad,” Stoner said. “We’re not in too much trouble and there’s nothing to worry about. The bike feels difficult to ride. We tried to make the front end a bit softer stiffness wise with the new triple clamps to try and make the bike better on the bumps at maximum lean. But we didn’t get such a good feeling with it. We just didn’t have time to finish the job today, so I’m not too worried. I felt we were losing a bit of engine power and we’ll have to check it and see if it is a problem.”

Stoner said the engine issue was not a big concern either with his factory GP10 motor high on mileage anyway. Stoner said he had opted to persevere with the new 2011 front forks despite crashing out when he raced them for the first time in America five days ago.

“The problem with these forks is they feel fine until they are gone,” Stoner said. “Once they go you can’t get them back. It basically waits until the last second and when it is gone it is game over. With the other forks I get more feedback so we understand when it is going to go. But the two times I’ve run these new forks I’ve been a lot faster so we’ll keep trying them. I’ve got nothing to lose and only a lot to gain. We’re going to keep trying things and we have to try something big because I’m sick of finishing third or a long way back from the winner. Unfortunately, when you try something big it doesn’t work immediately before you find a good setting.”

American duo Colin Edwards and Ben Spies are confident they can mount a double attack on the top-five in Sunday’s Misano MotoGP race after a strong showing in first practice. Edwards quickly shrugged off the disappointment of his retirement from last weekend’s Indianapolis MotoGP race to finish with the fifth-best time in Italy this afternoon. The 36-year-old, who has been an offer to remain with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad in Misano, set a best time of 1.35.834. Although that was 1.062s slower than Dani Pedrosa’s blistering pace, the Texan was only 0.295s behind reigning world champion Valentino Rossi.

“That was a good start to the weekend and I'm really happy with the bike,” Edwards said. “We had a bit too much weight on the front at the start of the session and a little adjustment to get more weight on the rear really helped my confidence. I kept the same rear tire for the whole session and it felt really good. It was the softer option but it already looks like that's going to be the race tire. It performed really well over a long distance and my fastest lap was on lap 26, so we've got no worries about it being good for the whole race. And I didn't really have any spinning issues and I told my guys it felt like the best grip I've had all year. I think we can only make the bike better and I feel like my first top-six of the season is definitely attainable on Sunday.”

Fellow Texan Spies was only 0.058s behind his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 teammate with a best lap of 1.35.892. Spies arrived in Italy brimming with confidence after he claimed a stunning career first pole position in Indianapolis, which he followed with a best ever second-place behind Pedrosa in the race.

“I'm happy with today and it's another decent start,” Spies said. “Like Colin, I stayed on the soft tire for the whole session and while I'm happy with the lap times, I know we can find some more time. We can make the rear better because I was just missing a bit of grip and stability that would allow me to go that little bit faster. And we can definitely make the front- end better. It wasn't a big problem but I wasn't as comfortable as I can be in the session. We've had a look at that already and know what we've got to try to make that better for tomorrow. So with a couple of minor issues I'm happy it was a solid session. There's definitely not one second we can find in the bike but there's definitely a few tenths we can find with some different settings we'll try tomorrow.”

After scoring his worst result of an outstanding MotoGP campaign in Indianapolis last weekend, Jorge Lorenzo suffered another tough day in practice at Misano this afternoon. The Spaniard finished outside of the top-two in a race for the first time last weekend in America with third-place behind compatriot Dani Pedrosa and rookie sensation Ben Spies. The Fiat Yamaha rider was eclipsed by bitter rival Pedrosa again today, the 23-year-old finishing third-fastest in the opening practice session in Italy. Lorenzo could only post a best time of 1.35.444 to finish just 0.060s behind Andrea Dovizioso in second-place. But he was a massive 0.672s behind Pedrosa’s factory RC212V machine and not in a happy mood. The double world 250GP champion, who will hold more talks with Yamaha about a 2011 deal this weekend, said: “Today was quite difficult for us, more so than we expected. It's not my physical condition, I feel completely recovered from the hard weekend in Indianapolis, but we really struggled today and I didn't have enough confidence in my bike or in the tires. We have some small problems in braking, corner speed and acceleration so I don't feel like I can ride how I want to at the moment. We are still third so it's not too bad but we have some time to make up if we are to match Pedrosa. I have great confidence that my team will find the right way to improve and I hope we will be in better shape tomorrow."

Dani Pedrosa’s hopes of exerting more pressure on Jorge Lorenzo at the top of the MotoGP world championship got off to the perfect start in Misano today after a brilliant practice performance from the Spaniard. The 24-year-old was untouchable at the top of the timesheets this afternoon as he easily defeated the field in warm but breezy conditions. Pedrosa’s best lap of 1.34.772 was a massive 0.612s clear of Repsol Honda teammate Andrea Dovizioso as he continued the dominant form that carried him to an easy win in Indianapolis five days ago. Pedrosa’s third win of the season in America cut Lorenzo’s title lead to 68-points, and with the Fiat Yamaha rider struggling again today, Pedrosa said: “It’s been a really good start here in Misano compared to last year and I'm very happy about that. We are coming from a strong result at the last race and it's important to keep the momentum going, which we have done so far. But we need to remain very concentrated and focused because we still have some areas to improve, and I'm sure our rivals will also go quicker tomorrow. Our pace has been quite fast today and Andrea is close to the front as well, so this is a good sign for the team. Here the grid positions are very important again because the first corner is close to the start and it’s a tight bend. Because of this we need to make sure we have a good pace tomorrow so that we can qualify well, and also so that we are ready for another long and tough race. I can say this was one of my best Friday practices, but I'm not going to relax at all.”

Dovizioso’s fastest lap of 1.35.384 secured him second from Lorenzo by just 0.060s, and the Italian said: “I’m happy with the work done during this session and I’m satisfied to be second. Six-tenths behind Dani is quite a big gap but I think we have the opportunity to close this. At the end I was able to improve my lap times with the tires I used for the whole session, so I’m confident we can move forward tomorrow. I think everyone was struggling for grip today and it was easy to lose the front, but we found a set-up solution that was effective to help with this so we’ll continue working in that direction tomorrow. Tire selection for the race will be very important, and both the harder and softer option Bridgestones look like possible choices at the moment.”

Jorge Lorenzo confirmed in Misano today that he will try and make some headway this weekend into solving the contract issues that have seen him fail to agree on a new factory Yamaha deal for 2011.

The 23-year-old recently said that negotiations were locked in stalemate, saying: “I'm very good at Yamaha and I know the bike and the bike is now competitive. In theory, the possibility to stay at Yamaha is the highest possibility but at the moment everything is possible. Now the situation is a little frozen but I hope that this chapter can be closed before the end of the year."

The stumbling block in clinching a deal appears to be Yamaha’s reluctance to meet Lorenzo’s wage demands, with the 2010 MotoGP title favorite demanding a big salary increase following Valentino Rossi’s departure to Ducati. Yamaha remains confident a deal for the double world 250GP champion will be signed imminently, given Lorenzo has little option but to ride a factory YZR-M1 next season. Compatriot Dani Pedrosa has not yet signed a new deal with Honda’s official factory team but a new deal is close to being confirmed. Lorenzo, who leads Pedrosa by 68-points going into Sunday’s Misano clash, said: “My manager Marcos (Hirsch) is coming to Misano this weekend to speak with Yamaha. I hope we can have a solution now in the next few weeks.”

Meanwhile, Yamaha confirmed that American Ben Spies will replace Rossi in the factory Yamaha squad.