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2008 MotoGP World Champion and current championship leader Valentino Rossi recorded the fastest lap time in practise at the Laguna Seca circuit on Friday (03/07) in California.

The Italian rider in his Yamaha clocked a time of one minute - 21.981 and continued his dominance after winning round seven in the Netherlands last week.

His team mate, the Spaniard, Jorge Lorenzo was 0.112 seconds behind Rossi with Ducati''s Casey Stoner finishing in third - identical to their order in the championship standings.

It was smiles all round for the championship leader Valentino Rossi ahead of practise day at the Laguna Seca circuit on Friday.

And the Italian, who leads the championship by five points over his Fiat Yamaha Teammate Jorge Lorenzo, would have good reason to smile with perfect conditions for riding under the the 24 degree heat of the California sunshine.

The defending champion comes into round eight at Laguna in top form after winning the last two rounds in at Assen and Catalunya and he continued to shine around the shortest track on the Moto GP calendar at 2.24 mile in length.

Rossi, who won the event last year, recorded his fastest time on the last of his 32 laps with a time of one minute - 21.981.

His Yamaha Fiat team mate Lorenzo does not have fond memories of Laguna as he failed to finish the race in 2008.

But the Spaniard put those uncomfortable memories behind him and clocked the second fastest time in practise 0.112 seconds behind the his older and more experienced team mate Rossi.

Lorenzo''s last win was in round four in France so he will feel he is overdue for win as he attempts to overtake Rossi in the championship standings.

Never far of the pace is Ducati''s Casey Stoner.

The Australian has fond memories of the racecourse after winning the race in 2007 - the same year were he convincingly won the world title by a massive 125 points over Dani Pedrosa.

However the Ducati Marlboro Team rider has had to settle for second or third in the last two rounds after winning the fifth round in Italy.

Stoner who recorded a lap time 0.189 seconds down on Rossi''s pace - is nine points behind the Italian in the championship in third place.

In fourth place was Repsol Honda''s Pedrosa. The Spanish rider is still trying to regain his fitness but is already in far better shape than last year when he went home after the Friday practices due to injuries he sustained in the previous round.

Pedrosa is currently in fifth place in the championship.

The surprise in practise was San Carlo Honda Gresini''s Toni El?as, who currently sits in 14th place in the standings.

The Spaniard finished in fifth - benefiting from a new chassis on the Honda RC212V.

In sixth was Andrea Dovizioso riding for Repsol Honda.

The Italian who failed to finish in Assen last week was 0.899 seconds behind Rossi.

Dovizioso, who sits in fourth place in the standing finished slightly faster than his countryman Marco Melandri who rides for the Hayate Racing team.

Rizla Suzuki''s Chris Vermeulen crashed at the beginning of the session but came back to complete 27 laps in total and still managed to finish eighth fastest.

But the day belonged to Rossi who was happy with his time and the way his Yamaha bike went around the Laguna track.