Lorenzo instantly on the pace in first Brno practice

The MotoGP World Championship leader was over half a second faster than the remainder of the field in the opening session of the Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic, ahead of the Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi.

Jorge Lorenzo picked up where he left off as the MotoGP class returned to the action at Brno following a three-week summer break. The Championship leader set the quickest lap of the first practice at the Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic with a best time of 1’57.215 on his Fiat Yamaha M1, in a session that encountered rain in its final 15 minutes.

At 0.541s off Lorenzo’s pace was Dani Pedrosa as the Repsol Honda man set about mounting another challenge to the dominance of his compatriot. Pedrosa, who was leading the last round at the Laguna Seca when he crashed, will aim for a step up in pace to enable him to once more push Lorenzo for the win here in the round ten.

Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) completed the top three as the reigning World Champion timed in at just six-hundredths of a second off Pedrosa, displaying further progress on his way back to full fitness. Close on his tail was fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), who was the fourth and the final rider under the 1’58” bar in the hour-long session.

Nicky Hayden was the highest placing Ducati on his factory machine at just over a full second off the top time, with Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) completing the top eight on the timesheet. Rookie Simoncelli experienced the only crash of the session early on, which did little to dent his confidence.

Making his return to action less than four weeks after suffering a broken left leg at Sachsenring was Randy de Puniet, with the LCR Honda rider 16th at just under three seconds off Lorenzo

MotoGP Championship chase resumes at Brno

After a three-week mid-season break the 2010 MotoGP World Championship returns to the action with the Cardion ab Grand Prix this weekend, round ten on the calendar.

Refreshed and ready to take on the second half of the 2010 season the MotoGP riders and teams are back in action this weekend at Brno for the Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic, where the chase to catch Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo recommences.

After nine of the 18 rounds of the season the Fiat Yamaha rider is 72 points clear at the top of the standings, thanks to his superb form of having taken with six wins and three second places so far. Another top-two finish would make Lorenzo only the third rider in the GP racing’s 62-year history to place either first or second in the opening ten races of a season, the others being Giacomo Agostini and Mick Doohan. To maintain his fantastic form Lorenzo will need to win at a circuit he has not yet triumphed at in the premier class, after crashing last year when battling team-mate Valentino Rossi for the race lead. He does have a fine record in the smaller classes there however.

Dani Pedrosa is the closest to the Lorenzo in the standings at present and the Repsol Honda rider has a point to prove following his crash at the Laguna Seca in the previous round. The Spaniard enjoyed a consistent run leading up to the summer interval and was leading the race in the U.S. when he fell, and has twice finished on the podium at the Brno including second place last year – his best premier class Brno result.

In third place at 23 points off his team-mate is Andrea Dovizioso, who is eager to rediscover his early-season podium form, whilst the resurgent Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) is hot on the Italian’s tail. Stoner did not race at the Brno last season but has tasted victory there (in 2007), something he is still yet to do in 2010 but a result that appears to be moving ever closer after four successive podium finishes in the last four rounds.

Brno has been a very fruitful hunting ground for the Valentino Rossi who has five premier class wins there (it was also the site of his first 125cc win), and the Italian has been victorious at the Czech track for the last two years. A podium last time out at Laguna in only his second race back from injury moved him back up to fifth, where he sits a single point ahead of Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team). Another American rider, Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) is also closing in on the top five and Brno offers a familiar circuit for the rookie, who has previously ridden there in WSBK.

Set to make an extremely speedy and very welcome return to action from his broken leg is Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda). Pending medical clearance the Frenchman intends to ride again just four weeks after his crash at Sachsenring – last year he rode to tenth place at Brno having broken his ankle just three weeks before the race.