Hayden still ahead in final practice

This morning's session started in damp conditions, saw some rain coming around the half-hour mark, then dried up to allow the times to tumble in the last ten minutes, with at least five different riders exchanging positions at the top.

Hayden's final time of 1:43.940, which improves yesterday's time by almost two seconds, was set when the time had already expired.

Second best behind the Repsol Honda rider was Shinya Nakano on the Honda Gresini, over four tenths behind the Kentucky Kid, followed two tenths further back by an on-form Marco Melandri on the Ducati Marlboro.

Newly-crowned world champion Valentino Rossi ended the session in fourth place with his Fiat Yamaha, with JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso fifth, Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen sixth, and Casey Stoner seventh with his works Ducati, less than nine tenths behind Hayden.

Dani Pedrosa had to settle with eighth best with his factory Honda, over 1.3 seconds behind his teammate, followed by the works Suzuki of Loris Capirossi and Alex de Angelis's Honda Gresini rounding up the top ten.

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:43.940
 2.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  1:44.366 + 0.426
 3.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  1:44.582 + 0.642
 4.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  1:44.621 + 0.681
 5.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  1:44.703 + 0.763
 6.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:44.772 + 0.832
 7.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:44.830 + 0.890
 8.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda     (B)  1:45.282 + 1.342
 9.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  1:45.509 + 1.569
10.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  1:46.068 + 2.128
11.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:46.456 + 2.516
12.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  1:46.721 + 2.781
13.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  1:46.847 + 2.907
14.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:47.255 + 3.315
15.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  1:47.309 + 3.369
16.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  1:47.327 + 3.387
17.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  1:48.019 + 4.079
18.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  1:50.997 + 7.057