Valencia MotoGP: Nicky Hayden quickest in wet first practice
Nicky Hayden set the pace in a wet opening practice session for MotoGP's 2012 finale at Valencia
A late rally allowed him to work his way down to a 1m44.485s, over one second clear of the field, although the soaked surface was far from conducive to chasing outright times.
Dani Pedrosa had been fastest with two minutes to run, but was in the pits and therefore unable to respond as Hayden made his charge.
The Honda rider, twice a winner at the Spanish track, had to settle for second, 1.005s down.
Newly crowned double-champion Jorge Lorenzo was four tenths down the road in third, ahead of Tech 3's Andrea Dovizioso.
Valencia will mark the Italian's final race with the satellite Yamaha squad before he moves across to Ducati.
Stablemate Cal Crutchlow had held the intra-team advantage when he moved into third with nine minutes to run, but with a flurry of late improvements found himself pushed down to eighth at the flag.
Separating him and Dovizioso were Gresini's Alvaro Bautista, CRT points leader Aleix Espargaro and the second Ducati of Valentino Rossi.
Rossi, like Dovizioso facing his last race for his current team, was just over two seconds down on Hayden.
The second CRT Aspar of Randy de Puniet beat Phillip Island race winner Casey Stoner to ninth.
Despite the conditions there were only two fallers - James Ellison and Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who is replacing the injured Ben Spies this weekend. Both were unhurt.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m44.485s 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m45.490s + 1.005s 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m45.945s + 1.460s 4. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 1m46.021s + 1.536s 5. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m46.413s + 1.928s 6. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m46.574s + 2.089s 7. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m46.678s + 2.193s 8. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m46.839s + 2.354s 9. Randy De Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m47.039s + 2.554s 10. Casey Stoner Honda 1m47.527s + 3.042s 11. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m47.825s + 3.340s 12. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m47.862s + 3.377s 13. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 1m48.110s + 3.625s 14. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 1m48.244s + 3.759s 15. Ivan Silva Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m48.918s + 4.433s 16. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Suter-BMW 1m49.143s + 4.658s 17. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m49.444s + 4.959s 18. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 1m49.748s + 5.263s 19. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 1m50.735s + 6.250s 20. Roberto Rolfo Speed Master Aprilia 1m51.826s + 7.341s 21. Claudio Corti Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki 1m51.996s + 7.511s 22. Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m54.245s + 9.760s
Four-time grand prix world champion Max Biaggi retires
Valentino Rossi backs Max Biaggi's retirement decision
Sordo aims to bring F1 influence to RLL IndyCar team
Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s new technical director Stefano Sordo aims to apply his 22 years of Formula 1 experience to his new role in RLL’s IndyCar team.
Haas reveals F1 car livery for 2023 season
The Haas Formula 1 team has released digital renderings of the new livery that will be run on the VF-23 this year.
How Blomqvist rediscovered Verstappen-beating potential at MSR
Since joining the Meyer Shank Racing Acura team a little over 12 months ago, Tom Blomqvist has been nothing short of a revelation in the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s top class.
Button: Garage 56 entry will show “true NASCAR” at Le Mans 24 Hours
Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button feels that fans will get a “true experience” of NASCAR in its one-off special appearance at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew-members absorbed into other operations
How one MotoGP team went from title fights to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is MotoGP's comeback king ready to reclaim his throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Autosport
How MotoGP’s underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Autosport why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of competition more than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
The Ducati rider who is much more than just the brother of a MotoGP legend
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Autosport – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend
Ranking the top 10 riders of MotoGP 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Autosport picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.