MotoGP news

Yamaha leads the way at Jerez test

Crowd favourite Jorge Lorenzo has finished fastest on the first of two days as the final pre-season test got underway in Jerez. With Dani Pedrosa's injuries still keeping him out of the running, Lorenzo was Spain's sole representative in contention for the top time, with compatriots Elias and Gibernau tenth and sixteenth respectively.

On the Bridgestone control tyres which he had previously struggled to use, the Yamaha rider set the fastest time of 1.39.791 to finish just seven hundredths of a second up on team-mate and reigning champion Valentino Rossi, who missed all of the morning running as he decided not to run in wet conditions.

The leading Ducati was third with Australian Casey Stoner onboard, hoping to develop the bike sufficiently to have a chance of regaining the title he lost to Rossi last year; he finished just a tenth of a second behind the leading Yamahas with Chris Vermeulen and Colin Edwards rounding out the top five.

Behind Loris Capirossi was the leading Repsol Honda of Dovizioso in seventh place, with Pedrosa's replacement - test rider Kosuke Akiyoshi - 18th out of the 19 runners. De Angelis, Hayden (sporting a stunning star and stripes livery) and Elias covered eighth to tenth positions, with the latter on the Gresini Honda entry.

Tomorrow's final pre-season test will, in the afternoon, include the annual televised segment from which the fastest rider will walk away with the prize of a BMW sports car, which should result in qualifying-like action on track.

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