Hayden tops wet second free practice

The 2006 MotoGP champion didn't top the times until the final two minutes of the session with a 1:39.349.

That would have been good enough to lead the times at the end of the session, but on his next lap he went half a second quicker, ending the session with a best time of 1:38.820, over seven-tenths faster than his nearest rival.

That rider was Andrea Dovizioso, who had spent most of the session on top of the times, and ironically will be taking over Hayden's ride in the factory Honda squad next season. Third fastest, and bouncing back from recent struggles, was Chris Vermeulen on his Suzuki, just over a second off Hayden.

After topping the times by seven tenths in the dry morning practice, Casey Stoner could only manage fourth-fastest in the afternoon's wet session, over 1.75 seconds slower than Hayden.

Close behind the Australian were the two Fiat Yamaha teammates of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, with Sylvain Guintoli right on Rossi's tail, both Rossi and Guintoli just over two seconds down on the session best.

After running in the top ten in the morning and with his teammate third fastest, Loris Capirossi struggled in the afternoon's wet conditions, over 5 seconds off the pace in sixteenth place.

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:38.820
 2.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  1:39.575  + 0.755
 3.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:39.824  + 1.004
 4.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:40.585  + 1.765
 5.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  1:40.804  + 1.984
 6.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  1:40.892  + 2.072
 7.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  1:40.948  + 2.128
 8.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (B)  1:41.638  + 2.818
 9.  Toni Elías        Ducati    (B)  1:41.788  + 2.968
10.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:41.834  + 3.014
11.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  1:42.408  + 3.588
12.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:42.905  + 4.085
13.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  1:43.006  + 4.186
14.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (M)  1:43.221  + 4.401
15.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  1:43.248  + 4.428
16.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  1:43.937  + 5.117
17.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  1:44.084  + 5.264
18.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  1:44.509  + 5.689