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Jorge Lorenzo, who capped an incredible start to his MotoGP career with a debut victory in only his third race at Estoril 2008, was back at the front of the Portuguese Grand Prix timesheets during Friday practice for the 2009 event.
The Fiat Yamaha rider, competing - like team-mate and title leader Valentino Rossi - with a special silver and white Fiat Punto Evo livery, took over from fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa at the head of the timesheets just after the halfway mark of the hour and was never headed.
The triple 2009 race winner stretched his advantage to 0.359sec over Pedrosa's Repsol Honda by the end of the session, with reigning six time MotoGP champion Rossi 0.421sec behind Lorenzo in third.
Rossi holds a 30 point lead over the #99 with four rounds to go.
Casey Stoner, making his MotoGP comeback after missing three rounds due to fatigue problems, completed some exploratory laps with the Desmosedici before his first flying lap since July placed him ninth and the top Ducati.
The 2007 world champion's next fast lap, with the new GP9 fairing, moved him up to fifth and he reached third place on the timesheets - behind only Lorenzo and Pedrosa - just after the midway point.
Rossi later bumped the Australian back a place and Stoner finished the session a solid fourth, 0.360sec behind Rossi and 0.137sec ahead of Colin Edwards, who marked his new Tech 3 contract by once again leading the satellite challenge.
Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol) and Randy de Puniet (LCR) were over one-second slower than Lorenzo in sixth and seventh, while James Toseland proved he will push to the end of his MotoGP career with a competitive eighth for Tech 3 Yamaha.
Honda Gresini - the last satellite team to win a MotoGP race, with Toni Elias, at Estoril 2006 - saw its riders ranked only ninth (Alex de Angelis) and 15th (Elias), with Mika Kallio rounding out the top ten for Pramac Ducati.
All four Ducati riders had been in the top ten with nine minutes to go, but Stoner's factory team-mate Nicky Hayden was forced back to eleventh, with Niccolo Canepa dropping to 13th.
A tough day for Suzuki ended with Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen 12th and 16th, with Marco Melandri a depressing 17th and last for Hayate. By contrast, Scot Honda rookie Gabor Talmacsi was a better than usual 14th.
Estoril MotoGP - Friday practice times1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team - 1min 37.185 sec
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team - 1min 37.544 sec
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team - 1min 37.606 sec
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team - 1min 37.966 sec
5. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1min 38.103 sec
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team - 1min 38.244 sec
7. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP - 1min 38.385 sec
8. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1min 38.591 sec
9. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini - 1min 38.629 sec
10. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing - 1min 38.661 sec
11. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team - 1min 38.850 sec
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 1min 38.978 sec
13. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing - 1min 39.033 sec
14. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP - 1min 39.393 sec
15. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini - 1min 39.567 sec
16. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 1min 39.686 sec
17. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team - 1min 39.757 sec
source: crash.net