A new circuit record and a 1´21.582 lap of the Sachsenring circuit confirmed Casey Stoner´s credentials ahead of the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, with the reigning World Champion heading both practice sessions and going round faster than the pole position record at the German track.

The reigning World Champion and winner of the past two MotoGP rounds, Stoner was once again the dominant force in the premier class on Friday, with his nearest rival some 0.745 slower than the Ducati Marlboro rider´s storming early afternoon lap. Alex de Angelis also confirmed his morning performance was no one-off, the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider the closest to Stoner´s rhythm with satellite machinery.

Tech 3 Yamaha´s Colin Edwards was the only other rider within a second of Stoner´s time, and he himself suffered a crash at the midway point of the session. Fourth on the timesheets was Valentino Rossi, the Fiat Yamaha rider once again fast but playing catch-up with Stoner. Dani Pedrosa was also unable to better his morning showing, and crashed his Repsol Honda RC212V after losing the front end early on in the session.

Shinya Nakano, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso and Randy de Puniet completed the top ten in the opening practice sessions for the Sunday race, with Dovizioso taking a high-speed lowside in the afternoon from which he emerged unscathed.