Estoril MotoGP: Casey Stoner edges out Valentino Rossi in final practice

Casey Stoner’s domination of the Estoril GP in Portugal continued this morning when the Aussie edged out Fiat Yamaha rival Valentino Rossi in the third and final free practice session.

The Australian clocked a best time of 1.37.173 on only his seventh lap of a 26-lap stint to ensure he topped the timesheets in all three practice sessions ahead of tomorrow’s 28-lap race.

That was good enough to keep Italian Rossi at bay with the 28-year-old continuing Michelin’s revival as he grabbed second place again.

Rossi posted a best time of 1.37.434 in the final two minutes of the session. But that only closed him to within 0.261s of Stoner, who by scoring 15 points or more than Rossi in tomorrow’s race, will be crowned new world champion.

Stoner clocked his best time just 20 minutes into the session after he’d seized top spot just two minutes earlier.

A lap of 1.37.203 had seen him overhaul early pacesetter Nicky Hayden by 0.582s, and his fastest lap of the session opened his advantage over the American to a massive 0.612s.

Rossi first made his move with 22 minutes remaining when he logged a 1.37.740 that got him to within 0.567s of Stoner’s quick pace.

Just three minutes remained when he posted a 1.37.560 to slash the deficit to 0.387s, and he then slashed another 0.1s on his last flying lap.

Third place went to French rider Sylvain Guintoli on the Dunlop-shod Tech 3 Yamaha. Guintoli posted a best of 1.37.681 to finish just 0.247s adrift of Rossi.

Guintoli though was using a Dunlop rear qualifying tyre and it assures him of the third best combined time.

Reigning world champion Hayden showed better form as he clocked the fourth best time. The Repsol Honda rider climbed to the top of the timesheets after just nine minutes with a 1.37.785.

He was unable to better that time though in the 24 laps he completed after that point, but it was a marked improvement from yesterday where he finished eighth in both sessions.

John Hopkins was the next best Bridgestone rider behind Stoner, though he couldn’t break into the 1.37 bracket and was 0.840s adrift of top spot.

Aussie Anthony West’s tough weekend continued this morning as he ended up way down the standings in 17th. He finished with a best time of 1.38.941 after walking away unhurt from a crash in the final two minutes.