Ducati looking strong at Donington

Reigning world champ Casey Stoner set the pace in the first practice session for this Sunday’s British MotoGP. The Aussie has slagged off the Donington Park circuit in the past, but that didn’t stop him setting the quickest lap on Friday morning run, a 1:28:979.

Rookie Alex de Angelis clocked the second fastest lap of the session in his final outing of the first session, but was still half a second off Stoner’s time.

Local boy James Toseland is under huge pressure to perform in front of home fans, but he couldn’t match Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Colin Edwards, who set the third-fastest time of the morning. Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden and Chris Vermeulen completed the top six, with Toseland (7th) and Valentino Rossi (8th) the only other riders within a second of Stoner’s time.