Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner was the fastest man in Friday morning practice at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, California. Stoner piloted his Bridgestone-shod GP07 to a time of 1:23.410 around the freshly-repaved 2.2-mile circuit, which is just 0.3 second slower than Chris Vermeulen’s pole time for last year’s U.S.G.P. Gresini Honda’s Marco Melandri was just behind Stoner with a 1:23.597 on his Bridgestone-shod RC212V, which is the only satellite Honda to be equipped with engine upgrade parts from HRC. After leading the session early, Colin Edwards finished third with a 1:23.692 on his Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1, giving him the honors of top Michelin man and top American. For this weekend, Edwards said he pulled out the same cowboy hat that he wore at Laguna Seca in 2002, when he won both World Superbike races en route to winning that season’s World Championship. Edwards’ countryman John Hopkins was fourth-quick (1:23.753) on his Bridgestone-equipped Rizla Suzuki GSV-R800, just ahead of Edwards’ teammate Valentino Rossi (1:23.754). American “Wild Card” Roger Hayden put in an impressive performance Friday morning, recording the 10th-fastest time of the session on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. Hayden was 0.2 seconds slower than his teammate Randy De Puniet (7th, 1:24.311) and only 0.068 second slower than his older brother, reigning MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden (8th, 1:24.516). Behind Roger Hayden in Friday morning’s practice were Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa (1:24.680) and Miguel Duhamel (16th, 1:25.550), who is filling in for Gresini Honda’s injured Toni Elias. Friday morning’s MotoGP practice was temporarily stopped halfway through so that Pramac Ducati’s Alex Hofmann could be transported from the impact zone of the Corkscrew to the Mobile Clinica. Hofmann was T-boned heavily by Dunlop Yamaha’s Sylvain Guintoli, who came into the corner almost as if he lost his brakes. Guintoli was able to ride his YZR-M1 back to his garage, but Hofmann suffered a broken bone in his left hand, according to his team. It is not known whether Hofmann (who was already participating with an injured right hand) will be able to continue riding this weekend. MotoGP’s second free practice is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. Friday afternoon. 2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 20, 2007 Provisional Practice Results: 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.410 2. Marco Melandri (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:23.597 3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:23.692 4. John Hopkins (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:23.753 5. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:23.754 6. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:23.962 7. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:24.311 8. Nicky Hayden (Honda), Michelin, 1:24.516 9. Alex Barros (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:24.552 10. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:24.584 11. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Michelin, 1:24.680 12. Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:24.786 13. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:25.032 14. Carlos Checa (Ducati), Michelin, 1:25.097 15. Shinya Nakano (Honda), Michelin, 1:25.370 16. Miguel Duhamel (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:25.550 17. Anthony West (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:25.570 18. Sylvain Quintoli (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:25.745, crash 19. Kurtis Roberts (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:26.058 20. Alex Hofmann (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:27.751, crash More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER MAKES ANOTHER GREAT START, CAPIROSSI GETTING UP TO SPEED Ducati Team rider Casey Stoner got another great start to the weekend at Laguna Seca this morning, ending the first free practice session fastest. Team-mate Loris Capirossi, fresh from his brilliant podium result at last Sunday’s German Grand Prix, was 12th quickest. In warm Californian sunshine, World Championship leader Stoner was in masterful form around Laguna, a tortuous, undulating and bumpy racetrack that rewards riding finesse and commitment. Capirossi was also quick through the first two sections of the track but needs to refine his GP7’s set-up to improve his pace through the crucial final split. Although the new Laguna track surface is even bumpier than before, the track seems faster, with Stoner’s best lap already less than one tenth of a second outside the existing lap record, established in last year’s race. CASEY STONER, fastest, 1m 23.410s “This morning we had a few difficulties getting used to the track. For sure, the conditions feel a lot worse than they did last year. The surface is maybe a little better but the bumps are worse, the track is really bumpy now. Anyway, about halfway through the session we found a little bit better setting and we just slowly improved from there, and we ended up quite happy with the set-up we’ve got. This afternoon we will do some more tyre testing in hotter conditions and we’ll see where we are. We will work at finding a bit more traction and improving the turning. Overall, we are fairly happy with everything, we just need to test the tyres some more.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 12th fastest, 1m 24.786s “Compared to last year the track is still full of bumps but the asphalt is a bit better, even if it’s still quite dirty. We are working hard on the bike set-up, because while I’m not so bad in the first two splits I’m quite slow in the third split, above all through the changes of direction. First of all, we need to set up the gearbox better and work on the rear weight balance. But I’m confident because I know we can improve. The tyres are okay, I used the same rear all through the session, and it looked not so bad after 30 laps.”