Qatar : MotoGP – Free practice 2Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards put in a magnificent showing at the Losail International Circuit in the afternoon session, with the Fiat Yamaha riders leading the way on day one.
On track with his new livery for the first time,
Rossi took the session by the scruff of the neck early on, laying down a time of 1'56''464 that remained unchallenged.
His team-mate was close behind, with early morning pacesetter Edwards just over three tenths of a second slower than the five time MotoGP World Champion.
Last year's poleman Casey Stoner completed the top three on his new Desmosedici GP7, which would come as a little surprise to anyone aware of the Australian's pedigree in Qatar.
John Hopkins, making his return from an enforced absence caused by his crash in testing at the circuit, was immediately on the pace for Suzuki. The Anglo-American was one of six riders to go round in under 1'56, ahead of the resurgent Carlos Checa and Dani Pedrosa, fastest at the MotoGP Official test.
Marco Melandri, Loris Capirossi, Toni Elias and Shinya Nakano completed the top ten, with World Champion Nicky Hayden struggling during both sessions. The Kentucky Kid was over 1.5 second slower than title rival Rossi, languishing in 15th.
DORNA / CAPSIS International
