Melandri leads wet first session

The Gresini Honda rider had been concerned about his fitness prior to the weekend, having withdrawn from the last race at Brno after developing a discal hernia in his neck.

But he ended the wet morning practice 1.684 seconds clear of title rivals Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner, having held a similar margin for much of the session.

Stoner and Rossi closed to within eight tenths of a second of Melandri with their final laps, but the Italian restored his advantage with a 1:46.948 on his own last run.

Championship leader Stoner had a fall early in the hour, but recovered from the low-side and rejoined to take third.

Loris Capirossi and Colin Edwards completed the top five, ahead of reigning champion Nicky Hayden.

Pramac D'Antin Ducati's Alex Hofmann returned to action for the first time since sustaining serious hand injuries in a practice collision at Laguna Seca. He set the 14th fastest time.

Melandri's Gresini Honda teammate Toni Elias, whose fitness was also in question as he continues to recover from a broken leg, did not participate in the session.

Pos  Rider             Make           Time
 1.  Marco Melandri    Honda     (M)  1:46.948
 2.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (M)  1:48.632  + 1.684
 3.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:48.852  + 1.904
 4.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati    (B)  1:49.167  + 2.219
 5.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:49.219  + 2.271
 6.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:49.591  + 2.643
 7.  Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki  (B)  1:49.724  + 2.776
 8.  John Hopkins      Suzuki    (B)  1:49.957  + 3.009
 9.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:50.389  + 3.441
10.  Alex Barros       Ducati    (B)  1:51.072  + 4.124
11.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:51.164  + 4.216
12.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda     (M)  1:51.177  + 4.229
13.  Carlos Checa      Honda     (M)  1:51.312  + 4.364
14.  Alex Hofmann      Ducati    (B)  1:53.171  + 6.223
15.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (M)  1:53.297  + 6.349
16.  Kurtis Roberts    KR        (M)  1:53.428  + 6.480
17.  Sylvain Guintoli  Yamaha    (D)  1:56.352  + 9.404
18.  Makoto Tamada     Yamaha    (D)  1:59.146  + 12.198