|  Fp1 -
17.10.2008, 05:52
Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi put a dent in everyone else's hopes with a blistering final lap in the opening practice for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
Rossi spent most of the session at or near the top of the times. With 30 seconds of the session remaining, Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo went to the top with a 2:03.179.
But Rossi was not done with, and after the chequered flag fell set a time of 2:02.693 to go almost half a second clear of his nearest rival.
Lorenzo remained second, 0.016 of a second ahead of Ducati's Casey Stoner, who spent most of the session swapping fastest times with Rossi.
Next fastest was Colin Edwards, three-quarters of a second behind Rossi but consistently near the top of the times through the session.
Behind Edwards were a pair of Hondas, Randy de Puniet a tenth faster than Repsol's Nicky Hayden, with Suzuki's Loris Capirossi just over a second behind Rossi in eighth.
An improved showing for Marco Melandri saw him thirteenth, just under a second slower than teammate Stoner and faster than both the Alice Ducatis, while Dani Pedrosa ended the session seventeenth, eight tenths of a second slower than teammate Hayden.
Nobuatsu Aoki's wildcard ride on the Suzuki has got off to a slow start, a clear last, nearly five seconds off the pace.
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