Rossi on top in Oz

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Rossi, who holds an 18-point lead over Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo with three rounds of the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship remaining, posted a best time of one minute 31.032 seconds around the 4.448km track.

Lorenzo's weekend got off to a miserable start as he finished a second down on Rossi having suffered a lowside in the last five minutes of the session.

The Spaniard, who won last time out in Estoril to eat into his team-mate's title lead, finished the session down in sixth place.

Ducati's Casey Stoner was impressive as he continued his comeback from a recent three-race absence due to illness.

The Australian, seeking a third win in succession at his home race, led for much of the session but was eventually pipped to top spot by Rossi by just 0.135secs.

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa finished the session in third place, nearly half a second down on the best time set by Rossi, while Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis was fourth.

Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards was fifth while the American's team-mate James Toseland suffered a lowside on his way to seventh place, behind Lorenzo.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was eighth while Pramac Ducati's Mika Kallio recovered from fall to claim ninth and Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi rounded out the top 10.

Kallio's team-mate Niccolo Canepa also joined the lengthy list of fallers as he went down heavily at the first turn. The Italian appeared to injure his right arm in the accident and was taken to the track's medical centre.