Pedrosa tops second practice session

Pedrosa ended up nearly half a second clear of the field, with the leading positions being decided in a last gasp rush as track conditions improved very slightly towards the end of the hour.

His teammate Hayden beat Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen to second, with Colin Edwards dropping from first to fourth as the top three completed their final laps after the chequered flag.

Returnee Anthony West showcased his wet weather skills again with a superb fifth for Kawasaki, three places and six tenths of a second clear of teammate Randy de Puniet.

West, John Hopkins and championship leader Casey Stoner had monopolised the top of the timesheets in the opening half an hour, swapping the top spot repeatedly before Vermeulen moved ahead with a time that would stand as the benchmark until the final minutes.

Stoner and Hopkins ended up sixth and seventh at the end of the session. Behind de Puniet, Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi completed the top ten.

Despite the wet conditions, there were relatively few incidents. Several riders took harmless trips through the gravel, while Sylvain Guintoli fell from his Tech 3 Yamaha at Schwantz Curve near the end of the session.

Pos  Rider             Bike      Time
 1.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     1:43.870
 2.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     1:44.344  + 0.474
 3.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    1:44.371  + 0.501
 4.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    1:44.445  + 0.575
 5.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  1:44.498  + 0.628
 6.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    1:44.513  + 0.643
 7.  John Hopkins      Suzuki    1:44.716  + 0.846
 8.  Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki  1:45.158  + 1.288
 9.  Marco Melandri    Honda     1:45.684  + 1.814
10.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    1:45.718  + 1.848
11.  Alex Barros       Ducati    1:46.100  + 2.230
12.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati    1:46.811  + 2.941
13.  Alex Hofmann      Ducati    1:46.838  + 2.968
14.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     1:46.826  + 3.056
15.  Toni Elias        Honda     1:47.178  + 3.308
16.  Carlos Checa      Honda     1:47.754  + 3.884
17.  Kurtis Roberts    KR        1:48.464  + 4.594
18.  Makoto Tamada     Yamaha    1:53.261  + 9.391
19.  Sylvain Guintoli  Yamaha    1:54.026  + 10.156