Sachsenring MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa fastest in practice

Dani Pedrosa’s best lap of 1.22.357 in a dry morning practice session secured him top spot on the timesheets at Germany’s Sachsenring today after this afternoon’s session took place on a wet track.

Pedrosa, who is still chasing a first victory of the new 1000cc four-stroke era in 2012, finished 0.087s clear of Repsol Honda team-mate Casey Stoner in sunny and warm conditions this morning.

This afternoon’s second session was only minutes away from commencing when a heavy downpour saturated the tight and twisty Sachsenring layout.

Just as he did in the dry, Pedrosa led the way with a 1.32.228 that put him 0.076s clear of home crowd favourite Stefan Bradl.

LCR Honda rider Bradl was ninth in the morning session but an impressive final lap on 1.32.304 put him second in the wet.

Jorge Lorenzo was third in the dry and wet, the Spaniard limping heavily on the right ankle that got damaged when compatriot Alvaro Bautista took him out in a first corner collision at Assen six days ago.

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner was fourth this afternoon and only 0.180s behind Pedrosa, while Ducati’s GP12 Desmosedici showed its liking for wet conditions once again.

Valentino Rossi was as high as second in the closing moments of the wet 45-minute session but dropped back to fifth with a 1.32.532. That was only 0.304s behind Pedrosa. In contrast, the Italian’s performance in the dry this morning was nowhere near as competitive and he was 1.124s behind Pedrosa with a best lap of 1.23.481.

Nicky Hayden was sixth this afternoon and just 0.087s ahead of British rider Cal Crutchlow.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider was fifth overall though after a best time of 1.23.081 this morning.