Racing: Day one, 2009 Iveco Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

The opening practice sessions for the three world championship classes at the 2009 Iveco Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island are all done and dusted, and here's what happened:

Doctor finds the right script in first Island practice
World champion Valentino Rossi put in the hard yards and the quickest times to take the early psychological advantage after Friday's one and only MotoGP free practice session for the 2009 Iveco Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

While Australian Casey Stoner was the early pacesetter for Ducati, Yamaha ace Rossi went top of the timesheets with a 1:31.390 after 10 laps,then posted a 1:31.032 that was good enough to last through an hour-long session run in bright sunshine throughout.

Not only that, but Rossi saw team-mate and sole title rival Jorge Lorenzo have a gentle low-side at Turn Four with just five minutes of the session remaining, the Spaniard ending the session in sixth spot and a full second slower than the Italian.

Rossi also completed 31 laps, the most by any rider in the session, and was on course to lower his best time again close to the finish, but he got out of shape through Turns 11 and 12 and gave the lap away.

Honda's Dani Pedrosa, another rider Rossi expects to see in the mix for Sunday's race, was third quickest, but the Spaniard was almost half a second behind Rossi and 0.361 adrift of Stoner.

The most spectacular moment of the hour was provided by Island newcomer Niccolo Canepa, the 21-year-old coming off his flying satellite Ducati up near the Hayshed two-thirds of the way through the session.

While he was able to walk away unaided, Canepa was clutching his left wrist and went to the circuit medical centre to have the injury checked out.

That completed a double for Pramac Racing, as Mika Kallio stepped off his Ducati at Turn Four after going into the tight right-hander too hot with just 22 minutes of the session run. The Finn still ended the session in the top 10.

Struggling for rear grip as the Suzuki always seems to do at Phillip Island, Australia's other competitor Chris Vermeulen could do no better than 15th as he embarks on his final ride here as a MotoGP rider before heading off to world superbikes next year.

Stoner ended the hour in sizzling form, firing in a 1:31.263 and then a 1:31.167 on his last two flying laps to end the hour just 0.135secs adrift of The Doctor.

Barbera takes charge before late crash
Hector Barbera finished the first 250cc practice session for the 2009 Iveco Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix atop the timesheets - and in the medical centre after a late-session crash that saw the 22-year-old Spaniard thrown over the handlebars at Turn 10.

Barbera's benchmark time of 1min 34.338secs came just 20 minutes into the hour-long session, and the Aprilia rider was pushing hard to improve when he had a moment out of Turn 10 and was carried away on a stretcher by trackside marshals.
Team boss Sito Pons said he wasn't yet sure of the condition of his rider.

"We think he has some pain in his back," the Pepe World Team boss said. "The bike, I have no problem with. We can repair it - this is the easy thing."

Barbera took control of the session from the 15-minute mark onwards, and while he crashed with 17 minutes remaining, none of his rivals were able to top his time in the frantic final stages.

Honda rider Raffaele de Rosa improved to second on his final lap, 0.573secs adrift of Barbera's time, while Frenchman Jules Cluzel (Aprilia), compatriot and reigning 125cc world champion Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia) and Honda's Hector Faubel rounded out the top five.

It was a quiet first session for 250cc championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama, with the Japanese rider finishing 11th on a Honda, 1.1secs off the pace.

Spaniard Alvaro Bautista, who trails Aoyama by 26pts in the championship standings, was further back in 12th. Italian Marco Simoncelli, winner of three of the last four races in the quarter-litre class, just scraped into the top 10 on his final flying lap of the session.

The first practice session for the 250cc bikes, in their last appearance at Phillip Island before being replaced by the 600cc Moto2 category next season, began with a brief shower of rain.

After De Rosa and Cluzel set the early pace as the track dried out, Barbera jumped to the top and stayed there. Championship contenders Aoyama and Bautista struggled to make any impression, Aoyama regularly sliding the bike into corners while Bautista survived a trip up the escape road at Turn 4 after 25 minutes.

The 250cc bikes will be back on track for a one-hour practice session at 11.10am on Saturday.

Derbi rider Espargaro, winner of two of the last three races at Indianapolis and Estoril, took control of the session after 20 minutes and gradually reduced the time to beat thereafter, settling for a best lap of 1min 38.435secs as the chequered flag fell.

Briton Bradley Smith was second on an Aprilia after momentarily taking top spot at the end of the session before Espargaro's final flying lap. Smith finished 0.255secs behind on his Aprilia, while Spaniard Nicolas Terol was third, also on an Aprilia.

Smith's teammate, world championship leader Julian Simon, was fourth, while young Spaniard Marc Marquez made it four Spaniards in the top quintet with a fifth-place result for KTM. Simon, who leads the championship by 50.5pts with three races remaining, can seal the 125cc title this weekend.

The session was held in dry conditions after rain had lashed the Phillip Island circuit for much of the week, and Espargaro made his intentions clear with a lap of 1:39.726 at the 20-minute mark.

Terol took top spot for eight minutes in the middle of the session before Espargaro produced a 1:38.759 with 13 minutes remaining, a lap 0.40secs of a second better than any of his rivals.

That remained the time to beat until the final seconds of the session, when Smith grabbed top spot with a 1:38.690. Espargaro crossed the line seconds after the Englishman to retake the top spot.

Several riders, including Briton Danny Webb (Aprilia), compatriot Scott Redding (Aprilia) and Aussie wildcard Andrew Lawson crashed in the session.

Lawson, who was the 35th and final rider classified, went down at Turn Four after 23 minutes had elapsed. The 16-year-old from Brisbane was unhurt, and is confident that his bike will be repaired in time for Friday morning's 40-minute practice session.

"I was just coming into (Turn 4) and everything seemed to be going alright when (the bike) tipped in, but the back wheel locked up and I got flung over the handlebars," he said.

The five Australian wildcards were five of the six slowest riders in the session, with Levi Day from Mount Gambier (SA) the best of them in 30th place, six seconds behind Espargaro's benchmark time.

The second practice session for the 125cc category will be held at 9:00am on Saturday.