Álvaro Bautista topped a rainy second session at the Ricardo Tormo circuit ahead of Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet, with Casey Stoner leading the combined times with his fast lap from a damp FP2 session.
Wet conditions marked the second MotoGP practice outing, the slippery track requiring a fair amount of caution as the field all lapped slower than the damp morning session. Various leaders topped the times, but the Rizla Suzuki of Bautista ultimately claimed the highest spot with a 1’47.975, two and half seconds slower than Stoner’s fast lap set in the morning.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) led the field until Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) knocked him out of the lead, the American concluding three tenths off Bautista to rank second and de Puniet seven tenths off the Spaniard to place third.
Karel Abraham was fourth, the Czech rider taking a heavy crash on his final lap of the session, while Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) place fifth ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team).
Casey Stoner was eighth in the wet session, though claimed the fastest lap of the day in a mixed condition FP1 with a time of 1’45.513. The Australian’s tema mate Dani Pedrosa claimed the ninth spot, while Josh Hayes, the replacement rider for a recovering Colin Edwards on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, placed an impressive 10 in the wet and 15th in the combined times in his first outing at the circuit and aboard a MotoGP machine.
The difficult conditions claimed riders Toni Elías (LCR Honda), who crashed out of 6th place 15 minutes into the practice, and a recovering Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) when he touched a slippery edge of the track. Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) also had a fall in the final four minutes of the session.
source: motogp official
