Pedrosa opens Aragón weekend

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa started the Gran Premio de Aragón as the fastest rider on Friday, setting a best time of 1’50.281 as he laid down the marker at his home race. Pedrosa’s time came in the morning session, following which the afternoon practice for the premier class was delayed and then cancelled due to power shortages at the track. A rescheduled programme for Saturday morning will see the affected MotoGP and Moto2 classes received an extended practice session prior to the afternoon qualifying sessions. Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) was 0.449s behind his fellow compatriot as he continues with his attempt to reel in Championship leader Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda), who was third in the timings at just under eight-hundredths behind. Two more Hondas followed in the order with San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli and factory rider Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) completing the top five, and the duo were the last two riders to get within a second of Pedrosa’s blistering pace. Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) was the highest placing Ducati in sixth ahead of factory team rider Nicky Hayden, with Valentino Rossi eighth on the latest version of the Desmosedici GP11.1 at 1.395s off the top time. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completed the top ten, with Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) 11th.