Kawasaki and Suzuki get encouragement from practice
Added on Friday, May 30th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Hopkins tops tables for Mugello practice
Kawasaki rider John Hopkins posted the fastest time of the day in a rain-hit free practice at Mugello.
The American posted a time of 1:54.053 at the Italian circuit to top the leader board by more than half a second over Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi.
In a rain-hit session, both Suzuki and Kawasaki posted encouraging times as some of the bigger names struggled with the conditions.
Anthony West rode a third quickest lap to put speculation about his future behind him whilst wet weather specialist Chris Vermeulen posted the best time of the afternoon by more than half a second over Honda’s Nicky Hayden.
James Toseland also impressed on a circuit which he has previous experience on, leading the second session times for much of the afternoon before slipping down to fifth late on.
Only Toseland’s teammate Colin Edwards posted his fastest time in the second session as conditions worsened in the afternoon.
Friday’s Best Combined Practice Times:
1. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), 1:54.053
2. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:54.520
3. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), 1:55.021
4. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:55.141
5. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), 1:55.528
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:55.718
7. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:55.774
8. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:55.805
9. Casey STONER (Ducati), 1:58.618
10. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:58.672
11. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:59.240
12. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), 1:59.436
13. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:59.899
14. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 2:00.004
15. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), 2:00.162
16. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), 2:01.718
17. Tadayuki OKADA (Honda), 2:02.810
18. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), 2:03.305
19. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 2:03.586
