Brno MotoGP: Stoner back on top in final Brno practice

After Sylvain Guintoli’s surprise yesterday, normal service was resumed in Brno this morning when MotoGP world championship leader Casey Stoner topped the timesheets in the final free practice session.

Stoner’s best of 1.58.002 gave him the overall best time in the three practice sessions, with his time on Bridgestone race rubber eclipsing Guintoli’s best yesterday of 1.58.362. The French rider needed to use a soft Dunlop qualifying tyre to set that time, but Aussie Stoner was 0.3s faster on race tyres this morning as he crushed his rivals with an ominous display.

Stoner’s 1.58.002 that he logged in the last two minutes of the session left him a massive 0.651s clear of nearest rival John Hopkins, who claimed second from factory Kawasaki rider Randy de Puniet.

After de Puniet and Colin Edwards briefly topped the timesheets early on, Stoner moved to the top of the timesheets just ten minutes into the session with a 1.58.690 moving him 0.697 clear of the Frenchman.

Two minutes later, American Hopkins got to within 0.282s of Stoner, and when the factory Suzuki rider posted a 1.58.829 after 16 minutes, Stoner’s advantage was slashed to just 0.139s.

Stoner marginally improved on his time after 25 minutes when he clocked a 1.58.640 to move 0.189s clear of Hopkins. But ten minutes later Hopkins got to within just 0.013s off the Marlboro Ducati rider with a 1.58.653.

Stoner’s decisive move came late on when he grabbed 0.5s just in the final section on his quickest lap. He was 0.607s up on his previous time through the first three splits but ended up 0.651s faster than Hopkins.

Stoner denied that his form owed much to the horsepower advantage of Ducati’s factory GP7 at the Brno circuit when he said: “I haven’t noticed an advantage in power at this circuit compared to the others because the corners are quite fast. It’s not so much of an advantage with acceleration and no really long straight. We arrive in sixth gear but not for long with no real long straights at this circuit but the Ducati in the corners has been unbelievable this weekend. The braking point is almost perfect and I’m confident with the tyres too.”

Guintoli’s best time from yesterday secured him second fastest on combined times but he was only seventh quickest this morning and 1.458s adrift of Stoner.
Edwards finished fourth this morning and seventh overall with a best time of 1.59.231, but Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi’s problems continued as he failed to break into the top five again. He was only 12th fastest this morning and sixth best on combined times with a 1.59.176 set yesterday his quickest lap. He was a massive 0.7s slower than that this morning.

Italian Marco Melandri was forced to miss this morning’s session as a neck problem continues to threaten his participation in tomorrow’s 22-lap Czech Republic GP. The Gresini Honda rider missed yesterday’s second session and wasn’t out on track again this morning having lost feeling in his left arm and hand. The former world 250 champion is understood to be suffering from a disc or nerve problem on the left side of his neck. He is expected to try and ride in this afternoon’s decisive qualifying session.