Inclement weather and changeable track conditions dominated today’s proceedings at Mugello, riders contending with a damp track this morning and heavy rainfall this afternoon. Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden excelled in the conditions, the American leading the morning session at one point and ending the afternoon outing second fastest. On combined session times Hayden was 12th overall while team-mate Dani Pedrosa was eighth and wild card rider Tadayuki Okada 17th.

Nicky Hayden, 12th fastest, 1m 59.436s

“Everything went pretty smooth today apart from the weather. This morning right at the end it didn’t look good because we were on wets and the guys on slicks took a lot of time out of us, but earlier when it was raining, we were on top with not long to go.

This afternoon at the beginning things weren’t great, we were maybe a little bit too hard on set-up, then when the heavy rain stopped the tyres and bike worked better. We tried a few things for the rain but we ended up with the bike exactly how it was when we got it off the truck and that seems the best set-up for us.

I know it’s only in the wet, but the way things went at Le Mans, it’s certainly a bit more fun when you’re near the front and competitive, whether it’s wet or dry or snowing or whatever. If it’s dry tomorrow it’ll be really important to make the most of the two hours for the race on Sunday.”