Lorenzo on the pace as MotoGP returns to action

As the Cardion ab Czech Republic Grand Prix 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 this 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.