British MotoGP: Casey Stoner fastest in Silverstone practice

Casey Stoner ended the first day of practice for his final British Grand Prix appearance on top of the timesheets at a windswept Silverstone circuit this afternoon.

Fourth quickest in wet and windy conditions this morning, the Australian took full advantage of improved weather in the second session to top the leaderboard with a 2.04.791.

The session started under bright skies but less than 10 minutes had elapsed when a heavy cloudburst forced the field back into the pits.

The strong winds though gusting round the Northamptonshire track quickly dried the surface and only 15 minutes of the session were lost.

Once the action kicked off again it was Repsol Honda rider Stoner that prevailed, his best time putting him 0.034s ahead of factory Yamaha rival Ben Spies.

Spies bounced back from a heavy fall at Stowe Corner this morning to log a best time of 2.04.825.

That put him 0.170s ahead of Gresini Honda rider Alvaro Bautista, who took third with a best of 2.04.995.

Nicky Hayden was the best Ducati rider in the field in fourth, but it was clear that unless there us a repeat of this morning’s rain, it could prove to be a long weekend for team-mate Valentino Rossi.

The Italian was quickest this morning in the wet but dropped back to a lowly 11th this afternoon and his best time of 2.07.125 was 2.334s behind Stoner and only 0.768s ahead of Randy de Puniet, who was the fastest CRT rider in 12th.

Stefan Bradl was impressive in fifth position to finish just 0.057s clear of Andrea Dovizioso.

World championship leader Jorge Lorenzo hasn’t had an easy start to the British Grand Prix, having come to Silverstone in scintillating form with back-to-back victories in Le Mans and Catalunya.

Eighth fastest in the wet this morning, the Spaniard only moved one place up the timesheets in seventh and ended over 0.6s off the best pace.

Home favourite Cal Crutchlow was eighth fastest with a best time of 2.05.574 that put him 0.086s behind Lorenzo.

James Ellison was 17th fastest this afternoon, as he was this morning, and a best time of 2.09.944 left him just over five seconds off the pace and two seconds behind de Puniet’s best CRT speed.

1 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 309.8 2’04.791 
2 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 308.8 2’04.825 0.034 / 0.034
3 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 308.9 2’04.995 0.204 / 0.170
4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 305.4 2’05.353 0.562 / 0.358
5 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 312.4 2’05.391 0.600 / 0.038
6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 311.8 2’05.448 0.657 / 0.057
7 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 307.7 2’05.488 0.697 / 0.040
8 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 308.2 2’05.574 0.783 / 0.086
9 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 309.1 2’05.886 1.095 / 0.312
10 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 311.8 2’06.084 1.293 / 0.198
11 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 310.5 2’07.125 2.334 / 1.041
12 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 290.7 2’07.893 3.102 / 0.768
13 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 287.9 2’08.535 3.744 / 0.642
14 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 286.6 2’08.975 4.184 / 0.440
15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 288.2 2’09.078 4.287 / 0.103
16 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 287.6 2’09.379 4.588 / 0.301
17 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 289.5 2’09.944 5.153 / 0.565
18 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 274.5 2’11.325 6.534 / 1.381
19 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 284.4 2’11.600 6.809 / 0.275
20 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 285.6 2’12.737 7.946 / 1.137