Simoncelli fastest amid Honda crashes

In the space of just two minutes during the riders' opening runs, first Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso had violent high-sides at the De Bult left-hander, then their temporary team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama did likewise at the left-hand part of Ruskenhoek.

While Stoner was able to quickly get back to the pits and rejoin on his spare bike, Dovizioso and Aoyama both required trips to the medical centre for checks before they were cleared to continue - Dovizioso having been taking away by stretcher initially and a limping Aoyama needing help from the marshals.

Stoner eventually made it up to second, 0.2 seconds behind pacesetter Simoncelli's Gresini Honda.

Yamaha duo Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo were next up, with Valentino Rossi fifth as he tried the new Ducati for the first time in the dry.

Cal Crutchlow continued his brave form to take sixth ahead of his Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards, Dovizioso, Ducati's Nicky Hayden and a stronger run from Toni Elias (LCR Honda).

The session was extended from 45 minutes to 90 minutes to make up for the cancellation of Thursday afternoon practice due to an oil spill. Though the first half of this morning's running was dry, the rain returned with a light shower with 42 minutes to go, and then heavier precipitation 20 minutes later. Conditions started to dry out in the closing moments, and a handful of riders managed to get slicks back on for a few laps, but positions remained unchanged.

Pos  Rider             Team/Bike       Time       Gap
 1.  Marco Simoncelli  Gresini Honda   1m36.149s
 2.  Casey Stoner      Honda           1m36.342s  + 0.193s
 3.  Ben Spies         Yamaha          1m36.409s  + 0.260s
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha          1m36.745s  + 0.596s
 5.  Valentino Rossi   Ducati          1m37.247s  + 1.098s
 6.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha   1m37.332s  + 1.183s
 7.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha   1m37.386s  + 1.237s
 8.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda           1m37.661s  + 1.512s
 9.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati          1m37.724s  + 1.575s
10.  Toni Elias        LCR Honda       1m38.276s  + 2.127s
11.  Randy de Puniet   Pramac Ducati   1m38.282s  + 2.133s
12.  Hector Barbera    Aspar Ducati    1m38.427s  + 2.278s
13.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Ducati  1m38.929s  + 2.780s
14.  Alvaro Bautista   Suzuki          1m39.032s  + 2.883s
15.  Hiroshi Aoyama    Honda           1m39.197s  + 3.048s
16.  Loris Capirossi   Pramac Ducati   1m40.243s  + 4.094s
17.  Kousuke Akiyoshi  Gresini Honda   1m40.991s  + 4.842s