Free practice times (combined) - Shanghai.

So Stoner well on schedule, seems nothing wrong with his race setting at the moment...
Valentino still a bit short on top speed, but not bad at race pace.. Pedrosa has top speed but he realy has to work for it, still think that Bridgestone has the advantage above the Michelins on this track.. Bring on FP3

JT looks to be struggling :(

Rossi seems to be in good shape but he seemed so also in Estoril where he would have finished fifth weren't for Dovizioso and Hayden's falls. I'm sure he will fight his way to the front but not so sure his tyres will make it OK through the race.

Jack its a bridgestone track of course rossis tire will work

There's no "of course" to me since Rossi doesn't have any data with Bridgestones on any track.

Anyway, If he gets his tyre choice OK, he is the favorite.

Shame about Jorge. Hope he's ok for the race. Would be great to see Rossi, Dani, Casey and Jorge fighting for the top three places.

Lorenzo was well off the pace when he crashed, hope he gets well soon.
Did anybody watch it who's got the race pace??? I agree nothing wrong with the Duc me thinks Casey was trying too hard.
Did you see how fast that Duk is??? Can he use that mapping in the race?? or will he run out of fuel. Either way this should be Stoners best track...

Holeinone: CS was consistently fast riding low 2.00, the bike was riding realy stable in cornering and accelaration, what(and that's my humble opinion) says he was riding comfortable and not at the top already, unlike Pedrosa and Dovi who where realy pushing.. (The stable performance wich we saw with the Michelin riders at Estoril and Jerez was now seen by the bridgestone riders).. CS was strong in the first three points but losing to much in the last one, if Ducati and CS are able to solve that part they are unbeatable..

kees there very beatable valentino hes gonna win this

well if someone has to hope for opportunities on long straights all the time..that's not a good sign for not being beatable

I can't help it but laugh when i read the phrase 'Rossi has no tyre data'.I mean, is anyone naive enough to think that the Bridgestone engineer in the 46 garage looks all sad at Rossi and says "Vale San, sorry, I cannot help you, what tyre do you feel like picking ? 1, 2 or 3 ?".
While i'm pretty sure there are no leaks as such, it's pretty certain Bridgestone would love to see Rossi WC 2008, and they're doing what they need to get him there: he's in the knowldge of what the other garages are doing in terms of tyres, and he's not alone (like the phrase seem to want him to look) in this.
As usual, Rossi is seen as a cartoon character, not the very organized and manipulative man he can be.

good to see shinya up there finding his groove on the bs. hopkins too is going well. i know its only friday but it looks to be a bs track so far.

C. A. I'm sure Bridgestone are doing all they can for Rossi but he is the only Yamaha on the Bridgstones and therefore has not accurate data for this combination. Every track is a learning curve.

Great observations Kees - the last section is where the really long straight is ... right??? So reading from that the Duc no longer has a huge speed advantage. CS is doing really well in the twisty technical middle section where rider skill comes to the fore - that should quieten down Gina Vulger and her anti the world except Vale comments!!

Well, Casey's Attorney, look at Rossi's performance so far: In Qatar, supposedly a Bridgestone track, he came to lead the race early on only to fade away -certainly because of the tyres- to finally finish fifth. I don't see any naivety in having resentments about his and his team's -Burgess or not- ability to manage their tyres at least now that they have only a handful of races from which to draw data from.

The level of the competition this year is so high that a miscalculation of say 2% could spell doom for the chances of winning a GP.

Hey Kees, nice observations. That means that sector 3 - the one with the long straight - is no longer the realm of the Ducati ... which also means that sector 1 and 2 - the tight technical sections are where CS is making up his time. Intersting!!!

I wonder if that will stop Gina Vulgar and her bleatings .... probably not. Tomorrow is forcasted for rain - so todays sessions are really important for race day: which is meant to be sunny and 28 degrees. Nothing useful for sunday will be gained from tomorrow if it does rain. My predictions: CS: DP and VR. Jorge has a chipped bone in his left ankle and only MAY ride tomorrow. Man that will be hard work if he does!!

Sorry about the double up - we had an ISP glitch here and I didn't see the previous post get on.

Casey - the 2nd in a row flukey - is great in the twisty turns in practice where he rides alone... for sure.

Looking at the practice times (1st session, that Motogp site hasnt loaded session 2 yet)
Rossi and Stoner were the only ones consistantly in the 2.00min
mark.
It will be interesting tomorrow,

Not a good year this one for Flukey Moaner...needing a particular track to gain confidence..and points don't matter yet...hmmmm doesnt look promising.