Rossi quickest in Motegi practice
Added on Friday, April 24th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Rossi quickest in Motegi practice
Valentino Rossi drew first blood in ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix after posting the fastest time in Friday’s free practice.
Rossi left it late to clock a time of 1:48.545 during the weekend’s first outing at the Twin Ring circuit in Motegi although title rival Stoner was not far off the pace, coming within 0.056 of the champion’s fastest time.
Stoner went to the top of the time chart early on with a time of 1:48.601 and opted to sit out the majority of the test from that point, even after Rossi had leapfrogged him later in the session.
Rossi’s Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo was the only other rider to dip under the 1:49 barrier with a time of 1:48.965.
The Suzuki pair Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, who has won three of the last four races at Motegi, impressed with the fourth and sixth fastest times respectively as they sandwiched Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards.
The performance of the Yamaha riders will further add pressure to British rider James Toseland who has reportedly been given an ultimatum by Tech 3 bosses.
The former World Superbikes champion, who finished 10th fastest in practice, has reportedly been told to up his performances given the impressive results of the other three Yamaha riders. Last time out in Qatar, Yamaha riders made up three of the top four positions whilst Toseland languished back in 16th.
Andrea Dovisiozo, Marco Melandri and Toni Elias made up the top ten, coming in 7th, 8th and 9th place respectively.
