Hayden fastest in warm-up

In perfect weather conditions, the reigning world champion completed his fastest lap in 1:38.297, 43 thousandths of a second faster than fellow American John Hopkins on Rizla Suzuki.

Third and fourth fastest were the two Fiat Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards respectively, the two separated by 27 thousandths of a second with the Italian some 0.141 seconds slower than Hayden.

Dani Pedrosa was fifth fastest on the other works Honda, ahead of Alex Hofmann on the Pramac d'Antin Ducati, Randy de Puniet on Kawasaki, and Carlos Checa on the Cecchinello Honda.

The two works Marlboro Ducatis were only ninth and tenth fastest, with championship leader Casey Stoner ahead of Loris Capirossi.

The Australian had a difficult session when he crashed while exiting the final corner with six minutes to go. He managed to run back to the pits and rejoined the track with his spare bike, with which he subsequently had an off-track excursion just as time ran out.

Pole position-sitter Chris Vermeulen could only manage 11th fastest with his Rizla Suzuki, over eight tenths of a second slower than Hayden, while second row starter Marco Melandri was a full 1.4 seconds behind the American in 16th place.

Pos  Rider             Bike      Time
 1.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     1:38.297
 2.  John Hopkins      Suzuki    1:38.340  + 0.043
 3.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    1:38.438  + 0.141
 4.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    1:38.465  + 0.168
 5.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda     1:38.535  + 0.238
 6.  Alex Hofmann      Ducati    1:38.658  + 0.361
 7.  Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki  1:38.714  + 0.417
 8.  Carlos Checa      Honda     1:38.858  + 0.561
 9.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    1:38.870  + 0.573
10.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati    1:38.891  + 0.594
11.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    1:39.169  + 0.872
12.  Alex Barros       Ducati    1:39.177  + 0.880
13.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  1:39.375  + 1.078
14.  Makoto Tamada     Yamaha    1:39.410  + 1.113
15.  Sylvain Guintoli  Yamaha    1:39.504  + 1.207
16.  Marco Melandri    Honda     1:39.700  + 1.403
17.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     1:40.016  + 1.719
18.  Kurtis Roberts    KR        1:41.838  + 3.541