Mugello MotoGP Practice Results 2011

San Carlo Honda’s Marco Simoncelli made the best of Friday’s MotoGP practice at Mugello, the Italian earning the fastest lap in combined practice times at his home circuit as rain thwarted the paddock’s efforts in the afternoon. Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner was just 0.040 seconds adrift of Simoncelli, with teammate Andrea Dovizioso rounding out the top-three times after posting the fastest lap during a rain-filled afternoon session.

“It has been a very positive day because we were fast from the start this morning," Simoncelli said. "The bike is working well and I can't wait to get back on it tomorrow."

"This morning we had a pretty tough session, my injuries from Assen aren't completely healed and it seems there is a slightly deeper problem with my neck," said Stoner. "On the main straights the wind was knocking my head around quite a lot and we struggled with this and weren't able to get enough time on track to find something decent with set up or complete as many laps as I would have liked to."
 
Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo snagged the fourth-best lap of the day after not participating in the second free practice. The defending champ was 0.264 seconds off the pace with teammate Ben Spies only 0.113 seconds behind.
 
"In the afternoon the track was not perfect so we decided to stay in the garage,” Lorenzo said. “I am feeling confident because I like Mugello; I feel very comfortable riding on the new asphalt and this morning everything was good; all of us in the team have done a fantastic job so far. In my opinion we are now the closest we have been this season to the competition. Even with that, to win here will be tough, but we can! It is still too soon to say, but we have improved."
 
Like Spies, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards only completed two laps in the afternoon session, earning the sixth-best time of 1'49.810 during the morning. In his first return to racing since breaking his collarbone at Le Mans, Pedrosa posted a lap of 1'50.104 to take seventh in the timesheets more than a full second off the pace of Simoncelli.

"It's good to be back on the bike again and regain some feeling," Pedrosa said. "I have pain, of course, especially in hard braking and in the right hand corners is where I suffer more, but it's normal. Considering that it's been one month and a half without touching the bike, I did not do so bad this morning."
 
American Nicky Hayden continued being the fastest Ducati rider after placing eighth in the charts. San Carlo Honda’s Hiroshi Aoyama and Rizla Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista rounded out the top-10 times in ninth and tenth, respectively, with Bautista finishing 1.67 seconds adrift.
 
Edwards’ Monster Yamaha teammate, Cal Crutchlow, earned the 11-quickest time just 0.025 seconds ahead of Frenchman Randy de Puniet. Meanwhile Valentino Rossi got off to another slow start with his Ducati after being more than 1.7 seconds off the pace back in 13th. Mapfre Aspar’s Hector Barbera and LCR Honda’s Toni Elias landed 14th and 15th, respectively, with Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham finishing last in the timesheets more than 2.8 seconds adrift.

Mugello MotoGP Practice Results 2011:
1. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) 1'48.987
2. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1'49.027
3. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1'49.088
4. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1'49.251
5. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 1'49.364
6. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1'49.810
7. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'50.104
8. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1'50.203
9. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 1'50.629
10. Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) 1'50.658
11. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1'50.683
12. Randy de Puniet (Ducati) 1'50.729
13. Valentino Rossi (Ducati) 1'50.780
14. Hector Barbera (Ducati) 1'51.153
15. Toni Elias (Honda) 1'51.868
16. Karel Abraham (Ducati) 1'51.876

Moto2

Spaniard Marc Marquez continued leading the Moto2 field by posting the fastest lap during practice at Mugello. The Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider was 0.121 seconds faster than Viessmann Kiefer Racing’s Stefan Bradl, with JiR Moto2’s Alex de Angelis rounding out the top-three times 0.230 seconds adrift of Marquez.

"Truth is that we had a fairly good start and I am sure that the test we did two weeks ago helped me a lot to prepare, but tomorrow the rest of riders will improve without doubt and we also need to fine-tune some things," said Marquez. "Track conditions had change a lot since the tests, as back then the tarmac was very slippery. Now, with the MotoGPs there is more rubber and the grip is much better."
 
Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone was fourth-fastest in the field with a time of 1'53.522. Nearly half a second behind Iannone was Marc VDS Racings’s Scott Redding, who posted the fifth-best time in the order 0.769 seconds off the pace of Marquez. HP Tuenti Speed Up’s Pol Espargaro, Tech 3 Racing’s Bradley Smith and Mike di Meglio earned sixth the eighth respectively in the timesheets, with Switzerland Team GP Kiefer Racing’s Randy Krummenacher and Gresini Racing Moto2’s Aleix Espargaro rounding out the top-10 times.

Mugello Moto2 Practice Results 2011:
1. Marc Marquez (Suter) 1'53.241
2. Stefan Bradl (Kalex) 1'53.362
3. Alex de Angelis (Motobi) 1'53.471
4. Andrea Iannone (Suter) 1'53.522
5. Scott Redding (Suter) 1'54.010
6. Pol Espargaro (FTR) 1'54.017
7. Bradley Smith (Tech 3) 1'54.115
8. Mike di Meglio (Tech 3) 1'54.134
9. Randy Krummenacher (Kalex) 1'54.136
10. Aleix Espargaro (Pons Kalex) 1'54.178
11. Michele Pirro (Moriwaki) 1'54.309
12. Mika Kallio (Suter) 1'54.331
13. Kenan Sofuoglu (Suter) 1'54.334
14. Esteve Rabat (FTR) 1'54.463
15. Max Neukirchner (MZ-RE Honda) 1'54.562