The LCR Honda made its official debut in the MotoGP world championship when Casey Stoner returned to the track in today's free practice sessions in preparation for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
Team boss Lucio Cecchinello was delighted with today's performance, both from the team and Stoner, who was riding for the first time in five weeks following an operation to his right shoulder. The 20 yearold Australia rider reported no problems with his shoulder which had forced him to miss nine days of winter testing. Riding the LCR Honda RC2211V, Stoner set the 12th fastest time with a best lap of 1m 42.552 -- just 0.9s slower than the quickest lap by world champion Valentino Rossi.
Stoner set his fastest time on his 24th and final lap of the one hour afternoon session, run in cool and overcast conditions. The morning session was hit by rain showers with less than ideal track conditions.

"This was a very special day for everyone in the LCR team because it was our first official day in MotoGP. I'm very happy with Casey's performance because even though we had a positive medical report from Australia after his operation it was important to see him ride the bike without any problems. So I was very impressed, especially when Casey did his fastest time on the final lap of the session, just 0.9s slower than Valentino Rossi -- a very positive start for our team in MotoGP."

"A good day considering I haven't been on a MotoGP bike for five weeks. My shoulder feels better than ever and my main problem is some blisters on my hands from not riding for five weeks.
I actually felt fresher at the end of the session than at the start. But I still have a lot of catching up to do, even before the break for the operation I didn't have a lot time on a MotoGP bike. This afternoon I just concentrated on set-up on my number one race bike, just small changes to the front end to eliminate some chatter and stop the bike diving under brakes."