Indy MotoGP Friday

Casey Stoner reported his team would be experimenting with new forks Friday, and the improvements made the Ducati Team GP10 fastest at FP1 for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, Round 11 of the MotoGP Championship.

The Australian posted a 1:40.884, beating out Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo by 0.225 of second. Stoner, who has finished on the podium in the five previous rounds, was the only one in the hour-long session to break the 1:41 mark.

Stoner, who sits in third in the championship with 119 points, has reported struggling with handling all year. Ducati experimented with forks and suspension settings at the Brno practice session, and with the testing came positive results.

Lorenzo was quickest until the last 15 minutes, when Stoner found his rhythm and became trumped the Spaniard's times. Third quickest was Stoner's teammate, the American Nicky Hayden.

The Kentucky Kid has been riding with a left wrist injury from Brno, and fell on it during a crash at turn 13. But Hayden got back out on the track, and posted a 1:41.405, only a bit over a second off Stoner's lead time.

The only Honda in the top five was Dani Pedrosa's Repsol Honda RC212V, the Spaniard posting a 1:41.421. Rounding out the top five was Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha M1, the nine-time world champion 0.202 of a second slower than Pedrosa.

MotoGP says the American presence was enforced by Colin Edwards as the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider went sixth fastest, with Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and another home favourite Ben Spies in the top eight. Rookie Spies had a crash with six minutes remaining but walked away unharmed having been the final rider to get within a second of Stoner.

MotoGP says the top ten in the session was completed by Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), with Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) 16th on his return to competitive action after nine weeks out injured.

2010 MotoGP Indy Friday Free Practice 1 Results:
1. (27) Casey STONER, AUS, Ducati Team, 1'40.884
2. (99) Jorge LORENZO, SPA, Fiat Yamaha Team 1'41.109, + 0.225
3. (69) Nicky HAYDEN, USA, Ducati Team 1'41.405, + 0.521 / 0.296
4. (26) Dani PEDROSA, SPA, Repsol Honda Team 1'41.421, + 0.537 / 0.016
5. (46) Valentino ROSSI, ITA, Fiat Yamaha Team 1'41.623, + 0.739 / 0.202
6. (5) Colin EDWARDS, USA, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'41.664, + 0.780 / 0.041
7. (4) Andrea DOVIZIOSO, ITA, Repsol Honda Team 1'41.683, + 0.799 / 0.019
8. (11) Ben SPIES, USA, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'41.722, + 0.838 / 0.039
9. (41) Aleix ESPARGARO, SPA, Pramac Racing Team Ducati 1'41.992, + 1.108 / 0.270
10. (33) Marco MELANDRI, ITA, San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'42.147, + 1.263 / 0.155
11. (58) Marco SIMONCELLI, ITA, San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'42.268, + 1.384 / 0.121
12. (40) Hector BARBERA, SPA, Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1'42.368, + 1.484 / 0.100
13. (36) Mika KALLIO, FIN, Pramac Racing Team Ducati 1'42.600, + 1.716 / 0.232
14. (19) Alvaro BAUTISTA, SPA, Rizla Suzuki 1'42.696, + 1.812 / 0.096
15. (65) Loris CAPIROSSI, ITA, Rizla Suzuki 1'42.790, +1.906 / 0.094
16. (7) Hiroshi AOYAMA, JPN, Interwetten Honda 1'42.874, +1.990 / 0.084
17. (14) Randy DE PUNIET, FRA, LCR Honda 1'42.987, + 2.103 / 0.113