Italian motorcycling ace Valentino Rossi's hopes to get on top of the MotoGP championship on Sunday may be thwarted not by world champion Casey Stoner, but by his own teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who appears determined to win on his home turf in his rookie year.
Lorenzo held back in the first practise saw which Colin Edwards first followed by Stoner and then Rossi, but in the second practice both Yamaha riders turned it on with the Spaniard first but with Rossi right on his back tread with the second best time.
Stoner was only sixth in the second practice while Edwards, Rossi's teammate last year and with a non-factory Yamaha bike, placed third.
Observers are curious to see how Rossi and Lorenzo perform in qualifying on Saturday and in Sunday's race to see what difference their tires make.
After battling tire problems last season, Rossi this year switched from Michelin tires to Bridgestone, while Yamaha decided to have Lorenzo stick with the French tires.
In Friday's practice session, the top ten positions were split evenly between bikes mounting Michelin and Bridgestone tires, while in the second session six of the first ten had Michelin and four Bridgestone, two of them Stoner and Rossi.
Stone won the opening MotoGP in Qatar earlier this month while Lorenzo was second and his fellow countryman Dani Petrosa placed third on a Honda, while Rossi was a disappointing fifth.
