Stoner sets the stage at Silverstone

Under chilly conditions and cloudy skies on Friday morning, the MotoGP bikes headed out for the first practice session of the AirAsia British Grand Prix, the sixth round of the 2011 MotoGP season. Andrea Dovizioso set the early pace at the start of MotoGP FP1, until team mate Stoner set and maintained a hot pace for the rest of the session.

The 25 year-old Australian set a fastest lap of 2’03.748 ahead of Simoncelli, who trailed Stoner by over half a second. Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo set the third fastest pace which was over a second behind the Honda at the front, at 2’04.756.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) set the fourth fastest time just 0.022s behind reigning World Champion Lorenzo, with Dovizioso following Lorenzo by 0.132s. Hayden's team mate Valentino Rossi completed his first ever laps on a MotoGP machine at the circuit, getting up to a pace which left him 12th fastest with a time of 2’07.075.

Cal Crutchlow of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team saw as high as second position in the timings, finally setting the sixth fastest lap by the conclusion of the session. Recovering team mate Colin Edwards completed 13 laps in total to place 16th in the timings.

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies was seventh, followed by Spanish riders Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki). Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) completed the top ten with Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) behind De Puniet with a lap of 2’06.774.

Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) crashed in turn 16 with 15 minutes remaining, and managed to return to the track to complete the session.