Despite the challenging weather conditions, both Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden managed to finish the first MotoGP practice session at Phillip Island in the top three – however, it wasn’t until the end of the session that a sufficient dry line had developed enough to allow riders to start dropping their lap times.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Team) 2nd – 1’41.480
“The conditions were difficult today and obviously we had the big delay too, which is not the ideal way to prepare. Also we would prefer a fully wet session but it started to dry towards the end and that denied us the opportunity to confirm the settings or get a full understanding of the conditions. Other than the wind, which made things very difficult, it was quite a successful day. We made a couple of changes and I feel we made a little improvement with the bike but again because of the conditions we weren’t able to get much of a direction. Hopefully tomorrow we get consistent weather, whatever it may be, so that we can get a proper idea of our set-up in either the wet or the dry.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Team) 3rd – 1’41.631
“Those were nasty conditions… I mean nasty. It wasn’t so much the wet but the wind. It was really strong and for me it took a little while to get comfortable with being blown around so much. Other than that the bike worked well in the wet. We made a little bit of a change to help the bike turn, keeping some weight on the front, for the second run and I was able to go okay. My pace wasn’t too bad. Obviously it could be all for nothing if the forecast is right and the conditions are dry from here on but at this track you have to be prepared for anything and take advantage of every situation. We’re in the top three and very close in the wet so that’s a good sign. Anyway, we’ll see what the conditions are like tomorrow and try to take advantage of whatever they are.”

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