Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi set the pace on Friday in Spain.

Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi posted a late lap time to go quickest on the first day of free practice at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing teammate Jorge Lorenzo and championship leader Dani Pedrosa for the Repsol Honda Team.

Set in the afternoon session, Rossi completed 17 laps and achieved a best effort of 1m42.297, leading Lorenzo by just 49 thousandths of a second, with Pedrosa one and a half tenths off the pace with a time set in the cooler morning conditions.

Alvaro Bautista recovered from a morning accident to go fifth for GO&FUN Honda Gresini, rounding out the top five behind Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, who was only the second other rider in the top ten to set his quickest lap in the morning.

Repsol’s Marc Marquez ended day one of his first premier-class home grand prix event in sixth position, having already pinpointed the Circuit de Catalunya weekend as one of the most difficult of the season.

In seventh place, Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden beat Alex Barros’ 2004 record for the highest top speed at the track, posting a 339.4km/h.

The first 10 was completed by Hayden’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro, who is one of six Spanish rides in the field this weekend.

Despite finishing ninth, Bradl suffered another fall as the German lost control of his Honda at La Caixa curve after loosing the front under braking.

The sixth Spaniard, Avintia Blusens’ Hector Barbera, ended the day in 15th position as Tech 3’s Bradley Smith was taken to the Medical Centre for a check-up following an accident at the sweeping turn three.

Much of the focus of the day was on tyre choice for the race, with the majority of riders already stating that the harder option front is a certain choice, whilst many will be using Saturday to decide between the softer or harder option rear.

Australia’s Bryan Staring (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini) was 23rd quickest with a 1m46.577.

Pol Espargaro put his name atop the classification on the first day of Moto2 practice with the benchmark time of

The Tuenti HP 40 rider led Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis as increasing heat left onlookers looking for shade.

QMMF Racing’s Ant West suffered a small crash at turn five in the morning, but recovered to 15th quickest with a 1m48.263.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom ended the first day of Moto3 practice on top, holding off Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Isaac Viñales and Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez.

Caretta Technology-RTG’s Jack Miller was 10th quickest thanks to his lap of 1m53.402 in the opening session, while Arthur Sissis posted a 1m55.415 for 32nd on his Red Bull KTM.

2013 MotoGP World Championship
Round Five – Catalunya, Spain

MotoGP Free Practice results:
1. Valentino ROSSI 1m42.297
2. Jorge LORENZO 1m42.346
3. Dani PEDROSA 1m42.557
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA 1m42.752
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW 1m42.776
6. Marc MARQUEZ 1m42.857
7. Nicky HAYDEN 1m42.890
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 1m42.988
9. Stefan BRADL 1m43.005
10. Aleix ESPARGARO 1m43.204
11. Andrea IANNONE 1m43.272
12. Randy DE PUNIET 1m43.644
13. Michele PIRRO 1m43.648
14. Bradley SMITH 1m44.247
15. Hector BARBERA 1m44.461
16. Colin EDWARDS 1m44.586
17. Karel ABRAHAM 1m44.599
18. Danilo PETRUCCI 1m44.609
19. Michael LAVERTY 1m45.337
20. Claudio CORTI 1m45.513
23. Bryan STARING (AUS) 1m46.577

Moto2 Free Practice results:
1. Pol ESPARGARO 1m46.985
2. Thomas LUTHI 1m47.159
3. Alex DE ANGELIS 1m47.410
4. Scott REDDING 1m47.538
5. Takaaki NAKAGAMI 1m47.642
6. Jordi TORRES 1m47.676
7. Johann ZARCO 1m47.721
8. Dominique AEGERTER 1m47.729
9. Esteve RABAT 1m47.769
10. Mika KALLIO 1m48.148
15. Anthony WEST (AUS) 1m48.263

Moto3 Free Practice results:
1. Luis SALOM 1m52.054
2. Isaac VIÑALES 1m52.399
3. Alex MARQUEZ 1m52.349
4. Maverick VIÑALES 1m52.473
5. Alex RINS 1m52.711
6. Efren VAZQUEZ 1m52.998
7. Niccolò ANTONELLI 1m53.036
8. Miguel OLIVEIRA 1m53.156
9. Brad BINDER 1m53.304
10. Jack MILLER (AUS) 1m53.402
32. Arthur SISSIS (AUS) 1m55.415

Click here for detailed results