Jorge Lorenzo shook off last Sunday's disappointment and got straight down to business at the Sepang International Circuit today, finishing the first free practice session in first place. His fellow Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi, who is looking to wrap up the championship this Sunday, was fourth fastest on a typically hot and humid day in Malaysia.

Rossi and Lorenzo were first and second for most of the first half of the session, both quickly finding a good rhythm on their M1s around the 5.548km circuit despite the oppressive heat. Casey Stoner took control in the last ten minutes but some quick last-minute laps from 22-year-old Lorenzo saw him move to the top of the timesheets and finish the practice 0.064 seconds ahead of the Australian despite some pain in his little finger - a hangover form Sunday's crash.

Rossi ended the day 0.684 seconds down on his team-mate but is confident that the information gathered today will enable him to make a step forward tomorrow morning. Today marked ten years to the day since the Italian won the second world championship of his career, in the 250cc class at the Rio Grand Prix in 1999.

"I was riding quite aggressively today and I felt good on the bike right from the start, so I am very happy about this after what happened last weekend. It's very hot and it's really hard work to ride out there, but I feel okay. Unfortunately I have some pain in my finger where I hurt it on Sunday, it's not too bad but the cut is right on the knuckle, so it's a bit painful when I have to bend it to brake. Anyway, like I said on Sunday it could be a lot worse! I love riding at this track despite the heat and our bike is working well so I am hopeful for a good weekend."

"I am quite happy about today, even if the time and the position isn't perfect. We worked mainly with old tyres to understand the nature of the bike when it's sliding, which is important here, but actually my pace was very consistent and I think we can make another step tomorrow. It seems that Bridgestone have brought good tyres here, they are working very well despite the very hot temperatures and the fact that the track is a little bit dirty today. We still need to find a little bit more grip so we will look to improve the setting of the bike for this in the morning - it's going to be very important to be on the front row for Sunday. I think the race will be very hard and we will have to take care to prepare properly and drink a lot of water because it is very, very hot."

"Today was generally good for us and we felt confident, like we have in all the sessions this season apart from at Phillip Island. It was important today to check Jorge's physical condition and his finger after last Sunday, but luckily it seems to be not so bad. We have tested all the tyres and we've collected some data which we hope will help us to improve our setting further tomorrow, when we will try to build on this good start."

"We've tried to use this first session to get as much information as possible; we've worked on many different settings to help us to understand what might be important tomorrow and on Sunday. We were faster at the start and less so later - the other riders made an improvement - but now we have a lot of data and we just need to put it all together in order to improve our pace tomorrow."

Combined Free Practice Times

1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2'02.180

2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 2'02.244

3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 2'02.758

4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2'02.864

5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 2'03.142

6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2'03.253

7. Toni Elias (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 2'03.294

8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 2'03.426

9. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2'03.739

10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2'03.763

11. Mika Kallio (FIN) Ducati Marlboro Team 2'03.785

12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 2'04.042

13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Hayate Racing Team 2'04.274

14. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 2'04.664

15. James Toseland (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2'05.218

16. Gabor Talmacsi (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP 2'05.289

17. Alex Espagaro (SPA) Pramac Racing 2'05.336

Sepang: Record Lap
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 2'02.108

Sepang: Best Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2'00.605

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