Carlos Checa leads a Spanish trio in MotoGP first session at Jerez

Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias finished second and third

Carlos Checa set the fastest lap time of the journey. © Honda LCR. Spaniard Honda LCR rider Carlos Checa blitzed the field with the fastest time in the opening day of free practice for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. In preparation for his home race, Checa led a trio of Spaniards, ahead of fellow Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias. Today's performance was the perfect response to Checa's disappointing early exit from the opening race in Qatar two weeks ago.

While the cold track temperature of just 15 degrees for the morning session was not ideal, the warmer afternoon conditions (31 degrees), were more suited to Checa's race tyre options. But it was front set-up changes, including a switch to a different front tyre, that gave Checa the chance to shine. Improved braking stability and turning response are the main improvements.

"Being at the front is always a good feeling but I'm not getting carried away, the times are very close," said Carlos Checa. "Since the Qatar race, the changes to the front-end have made the bike comfortable on braking and turn-in, a much more positive feeling. My first target tomorrow is to complete the tyre testing for the race, we have two good options, and secondly to improve my qualifying performance where we had some problems in Qatar. I'm feeling good for my home race."

(Team Honda LCR)

MotoGP Free Session:

1	Carlos Checa	Honda LCR	1'40"851
2	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team	1'40"906
3	Toni Elías	Honda Gresini	1'40"972
4	Casey Stoner	Ducati Marlboro Team	1'41"171
5	Valentino Rossi	Fiat Yamaha Team	1'41"198
6	Kenny Roberts Jr.	Team Roberts	1'41"201
7	John Hopkins	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1'41"245
8	Chris Vermeulen	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1'41"305
9	Colin Edwards	Fiat Yamaha Team	1'41"339
10	Alex Barros	Pramac D'Antin	1'41"362