Reigning MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner clocked up the fastest time in free practice ahead of Sunday's Czech Republic Grand Prix, despite suffering from a mystery illness.
The Australian posted a time of 1min 57.231sec, which was 0.179sec better than Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi - a feat all the more impressive after it was revealed Stoner had been suffering from fever and abdominal cramps.
"I've not been feeling well for a few days and I felt very weak today - I even felt sapped of energy just putting my gloves on," Stoner told www.motogp.com.
"I can deal with a bit of tiredness but this afternoon I could only ride a handful of laps before I started to feel cramps in my stomach."
Loris Capirossi, on a Suzuki, was third fastest, coming in 0.769sec behind. The Italian, who is nursing an injury sustained in June's Dutch GP, was delighted with his performance.
"My lap time is not too bad, but I think we can improve on that, we have the power and I need to work on my rhythm a bit," he said.
Seven-time champion Rossi leads the riders' championship on 212 points with Stoner trailing by 25 points. Honda's Dani Pedrosa, third in the standings, had a poor practice run, posting a disappointing 16th fastest time.
In the 250cc class Spain's Hector Barbera posted the fastest lap time of 2min 16.210sec, with Mika Kallio 0.686 secs behind. Championship leader Marco Simoncelli was a further four-tenths down in third.
Reigning champion Gabor Talmacsi shone in the rain to clock 2min 9.870sec in the 125cc class. Talmacsi's final lap was over seven-tenths of a second faster than Spain's Nicolas Terol.
