Vermeulen pleased despite tough day

The Australian, who has a growing reputation for his prowess on a wet track, admitted that conditions had made the first day's practice challenging to say the least.

"It was quite difficult here with the weather today at Mugello," said the Suzuki rider. "This morning it dried out and at the end of the session I was able to go out on slicks, which was good for me as I am still learning a lot about this track.

"Unfortunately it was still wet in places and that made it difficult to go too quick, but I do feel like I know the circuit again. This afternoon was completely wet and at the start of the session it was a bit dangerous as there was so much water on the track.

"It stopped raining though and the standing water ran off and the surface became very consistent," he added. "I am obviously very happy with the way the bike performed in the wet and I hope it is dry tomorrow so we can try to do the same as we have done today!"

Vermeulen's teammate Loris Capirossi fell of in the wet second session, but consoled himself with the fact that he had set the second fastest time in the drier opening hour.

"I am very happy today as we now understand a bit more about the bike in these types of conditions," he said. "When it was really wet I went well and felt good. I made one mistake today and went straight on, but that was just one of those things that can happen in those conditions.

"I think we have started the weekend for Mugello in a good way and are quite optimistic. We just hope we have good weather tomorrow so we can get the bike set-up for here."