Rossi quickest in first Misano practice

Local hero Valentino Rossi delighted Italian fans by claiming the top spot in first practice ahead of this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix. The Fiat Yamaha rider beat team-mate Jorge Lorenzo to the top spot by just over a tenths of a second as Dani Pedrosa's Honda finished a further three quarters of a second further back. Rossi topped the timesheets on a bright morning in Italy with a best effort of 1:35.304; the Italian, alongside with Lorenzo and Chris Vermeulen, also set the highest number of completed laps with 29 to his name. The 1-2 order for Yamaha at the top matches that of the race finishing positions last year as Rossi comes into Misano with a 25-point advantage.

The Honda duo of Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso were also in the top five but separated by the Gresini satellite entry of Alex de Angelis with Colin Edwards again amongst the leaders for Tech3 Yamaha. If being slower than Rossi by seven tenths of a second was not enough of a worry for Pedrosa, the Spaniard's bike stopped on track when a component appeared to break away.

Kallio leads the way for Ducati in seventh ahead of Capirossi, leading Briton James Toseland and Nicky Hayden. Gabor Talmacsi's Team Scot Racing bike was the slowest of the seventeen runners at the end of the one-hour session.

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