It was pretty overcast and cool this morning at the Mazda Speedway for FP3, air temperature was a chilly 15°C and the track temperature barely reached 20°C, so out came the softer tires for everyone and lap times dropped almost immediately for everyone.
The fastest rider of the session was Casey Stoner, but team mate Dani Pedrosa was just 0.
017s adrift, while Jorge Lorenzo was third and 0.
049s.
However Lorenzo after practicing a race start and while returning to the pitlane, at turn 5 had a tremendous highside, his M1 clipping him as he slid across the track into the gravel pit hurting his legs.
The Yamaha rider was taken to the Medical Center and we should have an update about his conditions late.
Both Pedrosa and Lorenzo have a much better race pace then Stoner, Lorenzo did 9 laps under 1’22, Pedrosa stopped at 6.
In fourth with a big gap from the front three was Marco Simoncelli who was 0.
416s slower.
Ben Spies was fifth unable to shave those five tenths of second off, while Nicky Hayden on his usual GP11 (you can tell the difference between the GP11 and GP11.
1 by the number of gills on the fairing) was 6th and he improved his lap times as did Valentino Rossi who took eighth and was 0.
841s off the top of the chart and the last rider within a second from Stoner.
Alvaro Bautista sporting his new pro-Japan helmet was ninth, while Hector Barbera closed out the top ten.
Other riders to crash were Karel Abraham and Toni Elias, both unhurt and able to rejoin the field.
Elias will have to be doubly careful as he has only one bike, the spare is being used by wildcard rider Ben Bostrom this weekend.
MotoGP Laguna Seca FP3 results:01- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 1’21.
80602- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
01703- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
04904- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
41605- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
51906- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
55007- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 0.
62608- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11.
1 – + 0.
84109- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1.
03410- Hector Barbera – Mapfre Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
07111- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
25612- Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
27413- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
33714- Hiroshi Aoyama – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1.
70715- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
73816- Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 2.
23217- Toni Elias – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 2.
25018- Ben Bostrom – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 4.
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