Pedrosa takes early advantage before downpour

© Repsol Media Service. The opening 800cc practice sessions for the Alice Grand Prix of Italy got underway in a day of two halves in Mugello. The early part of the day was a dry affair, albeit with a slightly damp track courtesy of overnight showers. However, after a break for lunch the weather became somewhat more restricting, with a torrential downpour just after 1pm local time all but cancelling the first 125cc qualifying session and leaving wet conditions for the MotoGP and 250cc riders.

With a difference of nearly 20 seconds between some riders' morning times and their afternoon laps, none of the MotoGP field were able to improve on their first run-out with the 800cc. Dani Pedrosa clocked the fastest lap of the day, with a time of 1'50.743 putting him on top of the timesheets. The Spaniard headed a top seven made up of seven different teams, with only one Italian amongst them.

© Fiat Yamaha Team. Said Italian representative was second placed rider Valentino Rossi, who has won the last five grands prix at Mugello and is something of a master of his home track. Even a rider with the pedigree of the five times MotoGP World Champion had difficulties with the treacherous conditions, with Rossi sliding off the track due to a low side at the end of his afternoon outing.

John Hopkins was unable to break the 1'51 barrier, less than three tenths off Pedrosa's flying lap. He was in turn faster than world championship leader and the morning session's fastest man, Casey Stoner. Both Ducati riders made up the top two for last year's race, with the Italian race one of the most important for the team owing to the location of their factory just a stone's throw away from the Mugello circuit.

Carlos Checa and Toni Elias completed the overall top six, ahead of Alex Barros, who won a rain-soaked race in Mugello back in 2001, World Champion Nicky Hayden, former Italian Grand Prix winner Loris Capirossi and Yamaha satellite rider Makoto Tamada.

© Master-Mapfre Aspar. Alex de Angelis took provisional pole for Sunday's 250cc showdown in the firstNick quarter litre qualifying session. The Aspar team rider from San Marino put in a time of 2'07.137 at a track he knows well, negotiating the slippery track to give himself an early qualifying advantage. Anthony West, a rider with a near-amphibious knack for getting the best out of his bike in the wet, took his chance to shine with both hands as he put himself in a provisional front row position.

(Nick Harris Media Communications)