Le Mans MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso quickest in rain-hit practice

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso ended a rain disrupted first practice session for the French MotoGP race with the fastest time in Le Mans.

The Italian edged out factory Ducati rider Casey Stoner by just 0.058s in the session that reverted back to a one-hour format after sessions were cut to just 45 minutes for the first three races of 2009.

The premier class field though only got 35 minutes of meaningful testing time as rain showers hit the Le Mans circuit.

The session started on a dry track after heavy morning rain but rain showers started to fall with 25 minutes remaining.

Riders had to wait 15 minutes for conditions to improve, but no sooner had they returned to track for the final ten minutes, another light shower struck to end proceedings.

The weather interruption left Dovizioso on top of the timesheets, with a best lap of 1.36.136 in his 16-lap stint.

The former world 125 champion said: “I’m happy today because we have started in the right way. I like this track and I was able to be fast right from the beginning of the session.

“Unfortunately it started raining in the middle of the practice and so we didn’t do many laps – only 16 in total. This meant we couldn’t test so many options on the machine but anyway, we were able to get some useful information and learn that we need to improve the set-up for corner entry.

“The lap times overall were not very fast today and I think they will come down by around two seconds – so today’s lap time is not indicative for the weekend.

“Regarding the race, I’ve had many podium finishes here so my expectations are high, but it’s too early to speculate about results. We just need to keep on working hard – and keep an eye on the weather.”

Aussie Stoner had to settle for second place with a best time of 1.36.194 as he only completed ten laps having experienced a problem with his number one GP9 machine.

Home favourite Randy de Puniet impressed again in third place as he looks to build on his stunning fourth place in the last round in Jerez, Spain.

The French rider was 0.157s off Dovizioso and just 0.099s off Stoner’s pace, with 2007 Le Mans winner Chris Vermeulen in an encouraging fourth place.

The Aussie said: “Conditions were difficult as it was very cold and damp but I really enjoy it here, I’ve had success before and I’d love to repeat that this year.

“For a first session we’ve done pretty well and the bike seemed to be good straight out of the box.

“We’ve tried a few new things from the factory on the electronics side and these seem to be working well.

“We want to try to get the most out of the tyres in all conditions so we experimented a bit with chassis and suspension set-up, but unfortunately due to the weather we didn’t get the full hour to try everything.

“We just hope that tomorrow is dry so we can continue where we left off today.”

Dani Pedrosa was fifth quickest on the second Repsol Honda, the Spaniard relegating championship leader and reigning world champion Valentino Rossi down to sixth place.

Le Mans is a circuit where Yamaha’s YZR-M1 has traditionally been super competitive on, and Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards claimed a clean sweep of the podium in 2008.

But Rossi was only sixth today, with Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo one place adrift in seventh place. Edwards was over a second off the pace in tenth position on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine, with British rider James Toseland in 12th.

A crew change for Nicky Hayden, with Sete Gibernau’s former Honda and Ducati chief engineers Juan Martinez now heading the American’s Ducati garage, did little to improve the 2006 world champion’s flagging fortunes.

He was 14th fastest with a best time of 1.38.032 that left him 1.896s off the best pace.

1. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 36.136 sec
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 36.194 sec
3. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 36.293 sec
4. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 36.301 sec
5. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 36.476 sec
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 36.751 sec
7. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 37.024 sec
8. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1min 37.024 sec
9. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 37.224 sec
10. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 37.269 sec
11. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 37.270 sec
12. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 37.738 sec
13. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 1min 37.800 sec
14. Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 1min 37.875 sec
15. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 38.032 sec
16. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 38.323 sec
17. Yuki Takahashi JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1min 38.639 sec
18. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1min 39.116 sec