Casey Stoner fastest for Honda in first practice at damp Valencia

After a topsy-turvy session full of position swapping, Stoner resumed the usual order by putting in a 1m45.513s lap with five minutes to go, with Pedrosa joining him at the front a few minutes later, the Spaniard lapping 0.2 seconds slower.

Until the late Honda surge, a variety of unusual names took advantage of the slippery conditions and appeared at or near the top of the times.

The Ducatis seemed happier in the wet, with works men Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both leading the way for spells, and Pramac's Loris Capirossi also taking a poignant turn in front at the start of the final weekend of his racing career.

Another underdog to hit the front was Toni Elias, the LCR Honda man twice leading the way.

When the times settled at the end of the session, Rossi, Hayden and Capirossi held third, fourth and fifth places, ahead of top Yamaha rider Ben Spies in sixth. Elias fell to eighth, behind Pramac's Randy de Puniet.

Hiroshi Aoyama was 14th on the sole Gresini Honda entered this weekend following the death of Marco Simoncelli at Sepang.

MotoGP debutant Josh Hayes, substituting for the injured Colin Edwards at Tech 3 Yamaha, beat factory test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga - in for Jorge Lorenzo - to 15th.

The track remained consistently damp, with lap times only improving by five seconds through the course of the session. Despite the slippery surface the riders all stayed upright, with a trip through the Turn 1 gravel for Hector Barbera (Aspar Ducati) the only incident.

Pos  Rider               Team/Bike       Time       Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner        Honda           1m45.513s
 2.  Dani Pedrosa        Honda           1m45.736s  + 0.223s
 3.  Valentino Rossi     Ducati          1m45.828s  + 0.315s
 4.  Nicky Hayden        Ducati          1m46.073s  + 0.560s
 5.  Loris Capirossi     Pramac Ducati   1m46.108s  + 0.595s
 6.  Ben Spies           Yamaha          1m46.259s  + 0.746s
 7.  Randy de Puniet     Pramac Ducati   1m46.371s  + 0.858s
 8.  Toni Elias          LCR Honda       1m46.393s  + 0.880s
 9.  Andrea Dovizioso    Honda           1m46.402s  + 0.889s
10.  Cal Crutchlow       Tech 3 Yamaha   1m46.581s  + 1.068s
11.  Alvaro Bautista     Suzuki          1m46.922s  + 1.409s
12.  Hector Barbera      Aspar Ducati    1m46.967s  + 1.454s
13.  Karel Abraham       Cardion Ducati  1m47.079s  + 1.566s
14.  Hiroshi Aoyama      Gresini Honda   1m47.581s  + 2.068s
15.  Josh Hayes          Tech 3 Yamaha   1m48.037s  + 2.524s
16.  Katsuyuki Nakasuga  Yamaha          1m48.382s  + 2.869s