Valencia MotoGP: Casey Stoner untouchable in Valencia free practice

Casey Stoner continued his domination in Valencia this afternoon as he posted the best time in the second free practice session.

Stoner occupied top spot for 55 minutes of the session, as he needed only four laps to dip inside his best time from this morning.

The impressive factory Ducati rider clocked a best time of 1.32.968 on his sixth lap of a 26-lap stint to end up fastest in both of today’s sessions. In topping the timesheets this morning he posted a best of 1.33.083.

His time this afternoon made him the only rider to break into the 1.32 barrier as he edged out second placed Sylvain Guintoli by 0.116s. The French Tech 3 Yamaha rider posted his best time of 1.33.084 on a soft Dunlop qualifying tyre.

Casey Stoner jumped to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1.34.159 after just five minutes, and on his third lap he posted a 1.33.298 to move 0.734s clear of factory Kawasaki rider Randy de Puniet.

French rider Randy de Puniet briefly cut the gap to 0.652 but on his fourth lap Casey Stoner logged a 1.33.082 to move himself 0.868secs ahead of Spaniard Carlos Checa, who is making his last MotoGP appearance before a move to the Ten Kate Honda squad in World Superbikes next season.

Casey Stoner clocked his best time overall on the day after 11 minutes and nobody could seriously threaten to knock him off top spot.

Next best on race tyres behind a rampant Casey Stoner was Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa. The Spaniard posted a best lap of 1.33.150 with 14 minutes remaining that got him to within 0.182s of Stoner as he finished third.

Dani Pedrosa was comfortably the quickest rider on Michelin tyres with Valentino Rossi struggling down in eighth.

Behind Pedrosa came Marco Melandri, who was second fastest this morning, with fellow Bridgestone rider Chris Vermeulen one place further back in fifth.

Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi was 0.652s adrift of Casey Stoner after his best time of 1.33.620. That was 0.5secs faster than he managed this morning.

He also ran off track late in the session at turn two – the same corner where a crash in 2006 wrecked his hopes of winning a sixth successive premier class crown.

Nicky Hayden, who was the chief benefactor of that crash as he wrapped up his first world title, was one place further adrift in ninth with a best time of 1.33.650.

British rider Chaz Davies missed the session after he suffered a big high-side crash this morning. He was still undergoing precautionary checks on a lower back injury in a Valencia hospital this afternoon.

Early reports suggest he’s suffered no serious back injury, but there are unconfirmed reports that fresh X-rays in hospital have shown a small fracture in his left hand.

No decision has been taken on his participation in this weekend’s final race while the D’Antin Ducati squad await confirmed medical reports.

Valencia MotoGP free practice two results:

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1’32.968
2 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1’33.084
3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1’33.150
4 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Honda Gresini HONDA 1’33.319
5 71 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1’33.501
6 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1’33.519
7 4 Alex BARROS BRA Pramac d’Antin DUCATI 1’33.541
8 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1’33.620
9 1 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1’33.650
10 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1’33.680
11 7 Carlos CHECA SPA Honda LCR HONDA 1’33.831
12 6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1’33.899
13 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1’33.972
14 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1’34.000
15 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Honda Gresini HONDA 1’34.218
16 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Konica Minolta Honda HONDA 1’34.352
17 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1’34.413
18 80 Kurtis ROBERTS USA Team Roberts KR212V 1’35.335