DORNA SPORTS:

Lorenzo was on record pace at Brno on Friday

As MotoGP returned to action following the summer break and the Cardion ab Czech Republic Grand Prix finally got underway it was Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who lapped the historic Brno circuit fastest on Friday afternoon, enjoying the warm, clear conditions on his factory M1 as he went round in a best time of 1’56.595.

The young Spaniard has a good record at Brno from his time in the smaller World Championship classes and he will aim to keep up his good Friday pace as the weekend progresses and maintain the pressure on standings leader and MotoGP title-holder Valentino Rossi, who was second fastest in the session by a 0.4s margin.

Riding at close to 100% fitness at present, something which has far too infrequently been the case over the last year, Dani Pedrosa will be aiming to at least get on the podium in the Czech Republic and he started the weekend in third place with a best time of 1’57.584, around a second behind Lorenzo.

The in-form Colin Edwards picked up where he left off before the summer break, in good shape in fourth, taking his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine around less than two tenths off Pedrosa’s pace.

Pedrosa’s Italian team-mate Andrea Dovizioso – who scored his maiden MotoGP win before the break at Donington Park – was fifth fastest on his factory Repsol Honda RC212V, albeit a second and a half behind former 250cc rival Lorenzo.

San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Spanish rider Toni Elías, who finished second in last year’s Czech MotoGP contest, was just behind Dovizioso, to make it three Hondas and three Yamahas in the top six.

The top performing Ducati rider on track was the impressive rookie Mika Kallio, who made use of his temporary factory Desmosedici GP9 ride to lap seventh fastest.

Crasher Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Italians Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) completed the FP1 top ten.

Pepe World Team’s Héctor Barberá, who currently sits fourth in the 250cc World Championship standings, was the fastest rider in his category. A lap of 2’02.371 was enough to put Barberá ahead of his rivals, despite a late charge from standings leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team), who topped the timesheet briefly at the end of the session with a 2’02.511 effort, only for Barberá to reassert himself on his final lap.

With last year’s Czech 250cc racewinner Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) lapping third overall, with a best time of 2’03.125s, and Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) fourth, with a time 0.005 slower than Debon’s, there was a strong Spanish presence towards the top of the timesheet.

Italian compatriots and Metis Gilera team-mates Roberto Locatelli and Marco Simoncelli were fifth and sixth quickest respectively, both lapping around a second down on Barberá’s pace.

In the 125cc class Bancaja Aspar’s Bradley Smith has a point to prove this weekend, following the heartbreak of crashing out of the race lead at the British Grand Prix three weeks ago, so the presence of the young Briton at the head of the 125cc FP1 timesheet was no great surprise.

The closest rider to paceman Smith on the timesheet was Red Bull KTM’s Marc Marquez, the Spaniard lapping 0.113s behind the Englishman, who registered a best time of 2’09.211.

Also in the top five were Smith’s team-mates Julián Simón and Sergio Gadea, third and fifth fastest respectively, joined by another Spaniard Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), who crashed without consequences mid-session and finished fourth.

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