West remains fastest in wet practice 2

Torrential rain made conditions treacherous and the track almost unridable, and in the final stages of the hour, completely unserviceable, bringing the session to a natural close before the chequered flag came out.

West, who has been released from Kawasaki at the end of the season, was 0.8 seconds faster than anyone as he made the most of his watery skills.

Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen, another who revels in the rain, was second fastest ahead of Alex de Angelis and Valentino Rossi.

Suzuki's rookie sensation Ben Spies was an impressive fifth fastest overall on only his third grand prix in the top class. Local knowledge must have helped but the AMA Superbike star was only 0.7 seconds slower than Vermeulen, but four seconds faster than Loris Capirossi who was last on the time sheets.

Potentially HRC-bound Andrea Dovizioso gave Michelin some cheer once again to go sixth fastest, just ahead of Jorge Lorenzo.

World champion Casey Stoner was one of many to take a trip across the grass on his way to eighth.

Dani Pedrosa waited until the last lap of the session to go ninth fastest on his new Bridgestone tyres, while Ducati's Marco Melandri completed the top ten.

Despite the weather, the only significant fallers were Sylvain Guintoli and Toni Elias.

With two wet sessions completed, riders still have no idea on a dry weather setup for the bikes and the bad news is that the monsoon is set to continue through Saturday, which poses interesting questions for the organisers ahead of Sunday's race.

Pos  Rider             Make      Time
 1.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  1:54.274
 2.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    1:55.032 + 0.758
 3.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     1:55.067 + 0.793
 4.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    1:55.425 + 1.151
 5.  Ben Spies         Suzuki    1:55.869 + 1.595
 6.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     1:56.225 + 1.951
 7.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    1:56.313 + 2.039
 8.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    1:56.458 + 2.184
 9.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda     1:56.782 + 2.508
10.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    1:57.534 + 3.260
11.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  1:58.335 + 4.061
12.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     1:58.382 + 4.108
13.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    1:58.399 + 4.125
14.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     1:58.546 + 4.272
15.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    1:58.600 + 4.326
16.  Toni Elias        Ducati    1:59.059 + 4.785
17.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     1:59.092 + 4.818
18.  James Toseland    Yamaha    1:59.478 + 5.204
19.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    1:59.661 + 5.387