2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California Combined Practice Results: 1. Casey Stoner (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:22.365 2. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:22.723 3. John Hopkins (Suzuki), Bridgestone, 1:22.756 4. Marco Melandri (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:22.821 5. Nicky Hayden (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.839 6. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Michelin, 1:22.860 7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:23.049 8. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:23.263 9. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Michelin, 1:23.272, crash 10. Carlos Checa (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.282 11. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.285 12. Anthony West (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.313 13. Randy De Puniet (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, 1:23.333 14. Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.361 15. Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha), Dunlop, 1:23.468 16. Shinya Nakano (Honda), Michelin, 1:23.724 17. Alex Barros (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:23.930 18. Miguel Duhamel (Honda), Bridgestone, 1:24.626 19. Kurtis Roberts (KR-Honda), Michelin, 1:24.666 20. Chaz Davies (Ducati), Bridgestone, 1:25.219 More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: BRILLIANT STONER CONTINUES TO SHINE AT SUNNY LAGUNA, CAPIROSSI KEEPS IMPROVING Ducati Team rider Casey Stoner this morning continued his dominating performance at the ultra-challenging Laguna Seca MotoGP venue, topping the timesheets in the third practice session aboard his Desmosedici GP7, almost four tenths ahead of his nearest challenger. Team-mate Loris Capirossi was 14th quickest, continuing his session-by-session improvements towards tomorrow’s race, round 11 of the 18-round 2007 MotoGP World Championship. World Championship leader Stoner has led each of the three sessions so far, his best Saturday morning lap time an impressive 0.968 seconds inside the existing Laguna lap record. Capirossi meanwhile worked at improving his race pace, his quickest Saturday morning lap more than half a second faster than his best Friday time and less than a second off ‘pole position’. This afternoon’s all-important United States Grand Prix qualifying session commences at 13.50 hours local time. CASEY STONER, fastest, 1m 22.365s “We have found a very good setting, and we are using the hardest compound tyres we can possibly use. I didn’t feel quite so comfortable during the first part of the long run we did this morning, I was pushing the front a little bit entering the corners, so I came in and we made a change that really improved the set-up. Even with a lot of laps on the tyres we could still do some very, very fast times. I think it would have been possible to go faster again but when I came to passing de Puniet I had to live him some room. Anyway, we are looking very good for the race. Everything is working well, the bike and the team, and we have a good set-up at this point. I’m happy.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, 14th fastest, 1m 23.361s “Today we’ve been able to set up the bike a little bit better than yesterday, so we are all very close on lap times. I tried a few different things on front set-up and it’s looking better. In the end I did 30 laps with the same front tyre, using a slightly harder rear than I normally use, and everything seems to be working well, so I’m satisfied. The first two sections of the track are still better for me, I’m losing some time in the third split, I know I’m making a little mistake through there, and we still have to improve the bike for the fourth split. If we can sort out these two things, we should be pretty close.”