Yamaha riders eager for dry running

The pair finished today's wet session second and third behind Honda's Dani Pedrosa, but set their best times at the end of the session while Pedrosa set the best time before the heaviest of the rain.

Rossi sat in the garage for the first 20 minutes of practice to save mileage on his engine, so only took to the track once it was raining heavily.

"By the time I went out it was very wet," he said. "Unfortunately the track wasn't draining so well where there is new asphalt, and in some corners it was quite dangerous with standing water and a risk of aquaplaning. This weather was unlucky but it wasn't such a bad session and our pace and setting in the wet was quite good.

"We were able to improve the balance of the bike and if the conditions are like this again then we have some ideas to improve further. Luckily however, it looks like the weather will be much better and so tomorrow we will start again from zero in the dry."

Lorenzo said he was happy with his performance in today's session but is also looking to a dry practice tomorrow.

"I felt quite confident today, even in the bad weather, but hopefully tomorrow the sun will shine and we can see where we are in the dry."