Stoner blitzes first practice at Laguna

By Steven English

Friday, July 18th 2008, 18:25 GMT

Casey Stoner utterly dominated the opening practice session for this weekend's United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, finishing nearly a second ahead of second-placed Valentino Rossi.

The reigning champion, who is on a three-race winning streak, jumped to the top of the times mid-way through the cool and overcast session and hammered home his advantage, continually bettering his time until he was 1.2 seconds clear of the rest of the field.

Rossi improved his time inside the last five minutes to claw his way to within a second of Stoner, but is still a long way adrift.

Shinya Nakano was an excellent third fastest on the Gresini Honda, ahead of Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki and Marco Melandri, who enjoyed a strong showing on the second factory Ducati.

Nicky Hayden was the highest-placed Michelin-shod rider in sixth place, with Toni Elias, Colin Edwards, Alex de Angelis and Andrea Dovizioso completing the top ten.

American duo Ben Spies and Jamie Hacking finished the session 11th and 12th respectively. Spies is a wildcard entry on a third factory Suzuki, while Hacking is deputising for the injured John Hopkins.

Spies had a crash when he lost the front end of his Suzuki at Turn Four, but escaped uninjured and is confident he can finish in the top six on Sunday.

Dani Pedrosa, who is riding with a fractured wrist and finger following his crash at Sachsenring last weekend, finished over three seconds off Stoner's pace in 19th and last place.

Pos Rider               Bike       Time         Gap
1. Casey Stoner        Ducati     1:21.915
2. Valentino Rossi     Yamaha     1:22.679  +0.764
3. Shinya Nakano       Honda      1:22.953  +1.038
4. Chris Vermeulen     Suzuki     1:23.406  +1.491
5. Marco Melandri      Ducati     1:23.455  +1.540
6. Nicky Hayden        Honda      1:23.469  +1.554
7. Andrea Dovizioso    Honda      1:23.696  +1.781
8. Toni Elias          Ducati     1:23.698  +1.783
9. Colin Edwards       Yamaha     1:23.760  +1.845
10. Alex de Angelis     Honda      1:23.896  +1.981
11. Ben Spies           Suzuki     1:23.950  +2.035
12. Jamie Hacking       Kawasaki   1:24.050  +2.135
13. Jorge Lorenzo       Yamaha     1:24.317  +2.402
14. Randy de Puniet     Honda      1:24.356  +2.441
15. Loris Capirossi     Suzuki     1:24.392  +2.477
16. Anthony West        Kawasaki   1:24.591  +2.676
17. Sylvain Guintoli    Ducati     1:24.661  +2.746
18. James Toseland      Yamaha     1:24.736  +2.821
19. Dani Pedrosa        Honda      1:25.311  +3.396