Hayden encouraged after practice

The Repsol Honda rider, who has struggled for pace so far this year, finished as fourth fastest in second practice after briefly heading the times.

The American admitted is felt good to be on top for a while, and was left optimistic of a competitive weekend.

"The day went pretty smoothly and we tried some adjustments in the afternoon that I liked and improved the feeling from the machine," Hayden said.

"I was able to get a pretty good direction on tyres and the set-up today and the team's working really hard, so thanks to those guys.

"It's early and we've still got some work to do but it felt pretty good to see P1 on my pit-board late in the session, especially with the way things have gone in the first few races.

"We certainly won't relax though because I was also quite fast on Friday morning in Jerez and it didn't turn into much, so hopefully this time I can give the team a result they deserve."

Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who won from pole position for his maiden MotoGP triumph in China last year, was third fastest, less then two tenths of a second off the top of the times.

"This was a pretty normal Friday practice for us - trying tyres, working on the gear ratios and the machine set-up. It went pretty well and the weather was kind to us and stayed dry," said Pedrosa.

"The laptimes on the 800cc RC212V are a little slower than the 990cc machine but the power doesn't actually feel very different, even though the straight is very long here.

"The track conditions were OK today though it was a little bit misty in the morning. I think if it does not rain the surface will continue to get better as the track cleans up further.

"I was on pole position here last year so I hope it stays dry and we can put in a good performance in qualifying tomorrow."