Misano MotoGP: Casey Stoner fastest, Valentino Rossi struggles

Casey Stoner’s bid to record a fourth straight victory for the first time in his career got off to a flying start in Misano this morning.

But there was little to cheer for Valentino Rossi’s home crowd on the Adriatic coast as the Italian struggled again on Ducati’s GP11.1 and was well down the order in 11th.

Aussie Stoner topped the opening practice timesheets in baking hot conditions with a last lap of 1.34.180 to deny factory Yamaha rival Ben Spies.

Stoner and Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa had dominated the session until the final three minutes when Texan Spies grabbed top spot with a 1.34.466.

But Stoner continued his red-hot run of form with a brilliant last lap to finish 0.286s clear of the 2009 World Superbike champion.

Pedrosa, who won the 2010 Misano race in dominant fashion, was third quickest with a 1.34.529 and he was the last rider to dive under the 1.35 barrier.

Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo is desperate to get his title bid back on track after successive fourth places in Brno and Indianapolis, but he had to settle for sixth place behind home favourites Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli.

The Spaniard ended with a best lap of 1.35.142 to finish almost a second off Stoner’s pace.

It was another frustrating 45-minute session for Rossi though and a 1.35.745 left him languishing 1.565s adrift of Stoner.

Not only was he a disappointing 11th but he was slower than Hector Barbera and rookie Karel Abraham while it was another miserable session for factory Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden, who could only finish 13th and almost 1.8s off the quickest pace.

British rider Cal Crutchlow was 12th and just over 0.2s behind Rossi while Pramac Ducati rider Loris Capirossi, who announced his retirement at the end of the season yesterday, was 15th quickest on the Desmosedici GP11.