Rossi in charge again on Saturday morning

Following up on his good work from Friday, Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was again the top performer in practice on Saturday morning at Misano, despite a late surge from his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo – who was second again.

2008 Misano race-winner Rossi, who lives just a few kilometres from the circuit, put in a rapid 1’34.528 time right at the end of FP2 to stay at the top of the timesheets and boost his confidence ahead of qualifying this afternoon at round 13.

Lorenzo took over from his team-mate and championship rival Rossi at the top of the timesheet briefly, with a 1’34.732 lap in the final seconds, only for the Italian to strike back immediately.

Half a second behind Rossi in third place was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, whilst LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet showed good pace in spite of his ankle injury in fourth – a further three tenths back on Pedrosa. Also on home turf this weekend, Pedrosa’s factory Honda colleague Andrea Dovizioso was fifth best, with a time similar to De Puniet’s.

Americans Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards were sixth and seventh respectively, with the top ten rounded out by Alex de Angelis, Toni Elias and a remarkably quick Aleix Espargaró, lapping faster than numerous established names at the start of what is just his fifth day on a MotoGP bike.