Australian MotoGP pilot Casey Stoner of the Ducati team speeds up his bike during the free practice session held at the Jerez race track in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, on 30 April 2010 ahead of the Spanish motorcycling Grand Prix race to be held in Jerez on 02 May 2010.
The Australian rider's lap of 1 minute, 39.731 seconds was more than one-tenth of a second faster than Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, while his American teammate Nicky Hayden was nearly half a second behind in third.
Valentino Rossi of Yamaha, who won the season-opener at Qatar, was six-tenths back in sixth as the Italian braved back pain sustained in a motorcross accident in early April.
The Spanish GP is the season's second race after the Japanese GP was postponed to Oct. 3 due to air travel chaos caused by the volcanic ash two weeks ago.
Alex Debon of Spain was fastest in the Moto2 category while Derbi rider Pol Espargaro led the 125cc practice.