Frenchman Randy de Puniet was the surprise name at the top of the timesheets after yesterday's opening practice session for the seventh round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship season at Assen.

The LCR Honda rider knocked joint championship leader Valentino Rossi off the top of the pile in the final minute of the session, which was largely dominated by the Fiat Yamaha rider and his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

De Puniet's time of one minute 37.842 seconds was just five one-thousandths of a second quicker than the reigning champion, who clung on to second place despite a late charge by title rival Casey Stoner, who finished third for Marlboro Ducati to split the Yamahas.

A little over two tenths of a second separated the title-leading trio of Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner, who are locked together on 106 points apiece at the head of the riders' standings heading into Saturday's Dutch TT.

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa had led the way for much of the session but failed to respond to the challenge of his rivals in the closing minutes and was forced to settle for sixth place, behind team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Tech 3 Yamaha and Rizla Suzuki were left to fight it out for the remaining berths inside the top 10.

American Colin Edwards looked good early in the session as he ran second before dropping to an eventual seventh place. The first Suzuki of Australian Chris Vermeulen was next up while Britain's James Toseland was ninth.