The two Yamahas battled against Stoner for the majority of the practice session, while within only a tenth of a second with 10 minutes to go. At that point, the Australian rider built on his momentum gained after the Phillip Island win and climbed on top of the timing sheets, leaving Lorenzo and Rossi battle for 2nd.
The Spaniard seemed to have other plans for the morning, however, and once again passed Stoner in the standings, scoring his session-winning 2:02.180. While challenged by Stoner in the dying stages of the morning action, Lorenzo managed to keep himself in the No 1 spot. Rossi, on the other hand, was demoted to 4th place in the closing laps, after Dani Pedrosa posted a time of 2:02.758.
Honda put both its riders inside the Top 5 on Friday, as Andrea Dovizioso closed in on Rossi and was the last rider to finish within one second of leader Lorenzo. He was followed by Suzuki's Loris Capirossi and Gresini Honda's Toni Elias. Ducati's Nicky Hayden had to settle for 8th place, followed by Tech 3's Colin Edwards and Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen.
Here are the complete lap times from P1 in Malaysia:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2:02.180
2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2:02.244
3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2:02.758
4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:02.864
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 2:03.142
6. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 2:03.253
7. Toni Elias (Gresini Honda) 2:03.294
8. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 2:03.426
9. Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) 2:03.739
10. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 2:03.763
11. Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati) 2:03.785
12. Alex de Angelis (Gresini Honda) 2:04.042
13. Marco Melandri (Hayate Kawasaki) 2:04.274
14. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) 2:04.664
15. James Toseland (Tech 3 Yamaha) 2:05.218
16. Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) 2:05.289
17. Aleix Espargaro ( Pramac Ducati) 2:05.336
Google News