Stoner still on top in practice two

Although his title rival Valentino Rossi was fastest early on, Stoner moved ahead before the halfway point.

The Ducati rider eventually improved to a 1:22.737, three tenths of a second clear of Rossi.

Dani Pedrosa moved up to third near the end of the hour, but his Repsol Honda teammate Nicky Hayden was only 17th, and came to a halt on the main straight in a cloud of smoke on his final lap.

Sylvain Guintoli starred again to put the Tech 3 Yamaha an unusually high fourth, while Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri continued their promising form on the LCR and Gresini Hondas in fifth and sixth.

Alex Barros recovered from his morning crash to take seventh, with Colin Edwards eighth.

Both John Hopkins and Randy de Puniet took trips through the gravel early in the session but rejoined without delay. They eventually filled the final top ten positions.

Kurtis Roberts suffered the largest crash, falling from his KR212V at speed in the opening minutes. He was able to walk away and later returned to the track on his spare bike.

Pos  Rider            Bike      Time
 1.  Casey Stoner     Ducati    1:22.737
 2.  Valentino Rossi  Yamaha    1:23.083  + 0.346
 3.  Daniel Pedrosa   Honda     1:23.366  + 0.629
 4.  Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha    1:23.387  + 0.650
 5.  Carlos Checa     Honda     1:23.413  + 0.676
 6.  Marco Melandri   Honda     1:23.430  + 0.693
 7.  Alex Barros      Ducati    1:23.548  + 0.811
 8.  Colin Edwards    Yamaha    1:23.613  + 0.876
 9.  John Hopkins     Suzuki    1:23.645  + 0.908
10.  Randy de Puniet  Kawasaki  1:23.667  + 0.930
11.  Chris Vermeulen  Suzuki    1:23.683  + 0.946
12.  Loris Capirossi  Ducati    1:23.687  + 0.950
13.  Alex Hofmann     Ducati    1:23.856  + 1.119
14.  Makoto Tamada    Yamaha    1:24.090  + 1.353
15.  Anthony West     Kawasaki  1:24.106  + 1.369
16.  Shinya Nakano    Honda     1:24.208  + 1.471
17.  Nicky Hayden     Honda     1:24.238  + 1.501
18.  Michel Fabrizio  Honda     1:24.748  + 2.011
19.  Kurtis Roberts   KR        1:25.316  + 2.579