MotoGP Phillip Island, Warm Up: Stoner ahead of Lorenzo and Pedrosa

The warm up of the MotoGP class at Phillip Island (stage of the AirAsia Australian Grand Prix) saw the riders take to the track with a temperature of 13° in the air and 20° on the asphalt. The session began with the duel between Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner and with the fall of Valentino Rossi, who fortunately fell without suffering any physical consequences but then had to restart with the second bike (the first was no longer usable).

The fastest of these twenty minutes was poleman Casey Stoner, the Australian Honda rider, making his last appearance on his home circuit, as he will retire from competition after the Valencia race. Stoner who lapped in 1'29"888 had more than one excursion off the track, but without falling. Behind him, 447 thousandths of a second behind him, is Jorge Lorenzo, world championship leader who, finishing ahead of his compatriot Dani Pedrosa (third in the warm up), could become MotoGP world champion today for the second time.

Fourth and fifth times for the Yamaha SATs of Team Tech 3 of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso. The Forlì native, the next Ducati rider, precedes the two Honda RC213V SATs of Stefan Bradl (Team LCR) and Alvaro Bautista (Team Gresini). Closing out the Top Ten are the Ducatis of Karel Abraham and Nicky Hayden and the ART CRT of Randy de Puniet, who precedes team-mate Aleix Espargarò and Valentino Rossi, twelfth at 2"399 from the top.

The other Italian riders with the CRTs are Michele Pirro (FTR Honda team Gresini) 14th, Danilo Petrucci (Ioda Suter BMW) 16th and Roberto Rolfo, 18th with the ART Aprilia of Team Speed ​​Master.