[kropotkin thinks...] - 2008 Laguna Seca FP1 Times Day 1 - Stoner Smashes Pole Record

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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The first session of free practice was very much business as usual at Laguna Seca. Casey Stoner was quickest, though it took him 6 laps to be the fastest man on track this morning, rather than his usual 3. Stoner was running low to mid 1'22s with ease, until he started hitting 1'21s. As a reference: That's nearly 4/10ths of a second faster than the existing pole record, set by Casey Stoner last year at Laguna.

Valentino Rossi was the only man who managed to get close, though every time he got anywhere near, Stoner went back out and took another couple of tenths off his best time, opening the gap up to over a second, before Rossi closed it back down again. Chris Vermeulen's form shows that he is still very good here at Laguna Seca, and will be a factor in the race on Sunday.

Biggest surprises are Shinya Nakano, Marco Melandri and Toni Elias. Melandri obviously gets on well at Laguna Seca, and may yet keep his seat for the rest of the season if he keeps this up. Nakano getting a top three time is outstanding, and very promising, and Elias, though only 8th, is much better than he has been. The top 5 riders are all on Bridgestones, but as it was cool and overcast, that probably favors the Japanese rubber.

Practice resumes this afternoon.

Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Fast Lap Diff Diff Previous 1 1 Casey STONER DUCATI 1'21.915 2 46 Valentino ROSSI YAMAHA 1'22.679 0.764 0.764 3 56 Shinya NAKANO HONDA 1'22.953 1.038 0.274 4 7 Chris VERMEULEN SUZUKI 1'23.406 1.491 0.453 5 33 Marco MELANDRI DUCATI 1'23.455 1.540 0.049 6 69 Nicky HAYDEN HONDA 1'23.469 1.554 0.014 7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO HONDA 1'23.696 1.781 0.227 8 24 Toni ELIAS DUCATI 1'23.698 1.783 0.002 9 5 Colin EDWARDS YAMAHA 1'23.760 1.845 0.062 10 15 Alex DE ANGELIS HONDA 1'23.896 1.981 0.136 11 11 Ben SPIES SUZUKI 1'23.950 2.035 0.054 12 12 Jamie HACKING KAWASAKI 1'24.050 2.135 0.100 13 48 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 1'24.317 2.402 0.267 14 14 Randy DE PUNIET HONDA 1'24.356 2.441 0.039 15 65 Loris CAPIROSSI SUZUKI 1'24.392 2.477 0.036 16 13 Anthony WEST KAWASAKI 1'24.591 2.676 0.199 17 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI DUCATI 1'24.661 2.746 0.070 18 52 James TOSELAND YAMAHA 1'24.736 2.821 0.075 19 2 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 1'25.311 3.396 0.575 Circuit records:

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