Rain hinders second MotoGP practice at Mugello

Unlike the morning session, which took place under clear skies, the afternoon was covered by clouds, with rain leaving the riders unable to use slick tyres for most of the event.

However, the circuit wasn't wet enough for teams to want to try wet-weather tyres and most of the field did not even venture out during the first 35 minutes.

Only Randy de Puniet, Hiroshi Aoyama and Toni Elias set a time during the first 40 minutes of the session.

De Puniet led for most of the day, but Elias moved to the top with some eight minutes to go, when several riders jumped onto the track after saying in their garages for most of the afternoon.

Elias showed the track conditions were improving by going some 10 seconds faster than de Puniet, with Dovizioso, using slicks, jumping up to first with less than five minutes to go as the times continued to tumble.

The Honda rider improved even further as the session finished, the Italian finishing on top, over 2.5 seconds ahead of Elias.

Valentino Rossi was one of the first men to jump onto the track after enduring a difficult first session, with both his bikes hit by electrical problems, but the Italian returned to the pits right away to stay there until there were seven minutes left, when he returned to the track.

The Ducati rider was third quickest after just six laps.

Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, Gresini's Marco Simoncelli and Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo did not even leave the pits.

Pos  Rider               Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Andrea Dovizioso    Repsol Honda Team          1m49.272            6
 2.  Toni Elias          LCR Honda MotoGP           1m51.937s + 2.665   10
 3.  Valentino Rossi     Ducati Team                1m52.550s + 3.278   6
 4.  Alvaro Bautista     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP        1m54.497s + 5.225   4
 5.  Randy De Puniet     Pramac Racing Team         1m55.279s + 6.007   13
 6.  Karel Abraham       Cardion AB Motoracing      1m58.334s + 9.062   2
 7.  Hector Barbera      Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP   1m58.748s + 9.476   8
 8.  Cal Crutchlow       Monster Yamaha Tech 3      1m59.812s + 10.540  2
 9.  Nicky Hayden        Ducati Team                2m06.386s + 17.114  2
10.  Hiroshi Aoyama      San Carlo Honda Gresini    2m09.337s + 20.065  3
11.  Colin Edwards       Monster Yamaha Tech 3      2m10.026s + 20.754  2
12.  Ben Spies           Yamaha Factory Racing      2m26.938s + 37.666  2
13.  Jorge Lorenzo       Yamaha Factory Racing      No time
14.  Dani Pedrosa        Repsol Honda Team          No time
15.  Casey Stoner        Repsol Honda Team          No time
16.  Marco Simoncelli    San Carlo Honda Gresini    No time