Donington Park MotoGP: Casey Stoner fastest in FP1: James Toseland seventh

Despite admitting Donington Park was not one of his favourite circuits, Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner dominated the opening hour-long practice session this morning.

Stoner topped the timing sheets throughout free practice one, ending the session with an impressive best of 1.28.979, just two tenths away from the lap record set by Dani Pedrosa in 2006 on a 990cc Honda.

British hopeful James Toseland, sporting a St George’s flag number board on his Tech 3 Yamaha this weekend, had a productive 60-minute session and with less than ten minutes remaining on the timing sheets was third fastest.

But Toseland was relegated down the order by a few late surges from the likes of Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards, Andrea Dovizioso, Chris Vermeulen and top Honda man, Alex De Angelis. But the rookie Brit still lapped faster than Valentino Rossi in his first ever MotoGP session at Donington Park!

Building on his best MotoGP result of fourth at Mugello two race weekends prior, De Angelis tagged onto the back of seven-time world champ Valentino Rossi for his last flying lap of the morning practice, dragging him within half a second of Stoner and a second spot on the time screens.

MotoGP newcomer Ben Spies, replacing the injured Loris Capirossi in camp Rizla Suzuki, finished the session a mere 2.828 seconds off the fastest time set my Stoner, and that’s on his first visit to the circuit and the first competitive session ever ran on a MotoGP machine.

Donington Park MotoGP free practice one results:

1. Casey STONER Ducati Marlboro Team 1’28.979
2. Alex DE ANGELIS San Carlo Honda Gresini + 0.548
3. Colin EDWARDS Tech 3 Yamaha + 0.682
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 0.739
5. Nicky HAYDEN Repsol Honda Team + 0.744
6. Chris VERMEULEN Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 0.808
7. James TOSELAND Tech 3 Yamaha + 0.899
8. Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.938
9. Shinya NAKANO San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1.165
10. Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP + 1.241
11. John HOPKINS Kawasaki Racing Team + 1.303
12. Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team + 1.330
13. Anthony WEST Kawasaki Racing Team + 1.473
14. Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team + 1.711
15. Marco MELANDRI Ducati Marlboro Team + 1.927
16. Toni ELIAS Alice Team + 2.124
17. Sylvain GUINTOLI Alice Team + 2.599
18. Ben SPIES Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 2.828

Check out MCN on Wednesday to get your hands on a British MotoGP special issue, with 76 pages designated to the Donington Park bonanza, out Wednesday, June 25, 2008.