Hayden tops Valencia practice
Added on Friday, October 24th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Hayden tops Valencia practice
Nicky Hayden topped the time charts in the final practice session of the season in Valencia on Friday.
The American, riding for Honda for the final time, posted the fastest time in both the morning and afternoon sessions, in wet conditions at Valencia, getting around the circuit in a time of 1:45.777 and beating Spanish Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa by 0.087 of a second.
Fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, sporting a special edition livery for the final round of the season, was third fastest with a time 1:45.959 whilst his Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi had to recover from a high-side crash at the final bend in session one before bringing the spare bike home in a fourth fastest time of 1:46.070.
Britain’s James Toseland had the 19th fastest time overall with a best of 1:48.771 whilst Toni Elias was the only rider not to post a time below the 1:50 mark in session two, being 1.871 seconds from that benchmark.
Valencia Combined Practice Times:
| 1 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 01:45.777 |
| 2 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 01:45.864 |
| 3 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Fiat Yamaha Team | Yamaha | 01:46.959 |
| 4 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Fiat Yamaha Team | Yamaha | 01:46.070 |
| 5 | Casey STONER | AUS | Ducati Marlboro Team | Ducati | 01:46.260 |
| 6 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | JiR Team Scot MotoGP | Honda | 01:46.522 |
| 7 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 01:46.807 |
| 8 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | FRA | Alice Team | Ducati | 01:47.055 |
| 9 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Tech 3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 01:47.314 |
| 10 | Shinya NAKANO | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 01:47.483 |
| 11 | Chris VERMEULEN | AUS | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 01:47.620 |
| 12 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 01:48.015 |
| 13 | Marco MELANDRI | ITA | Ducati Marlboro Team | Ducati | 01:48.437 |
| 14 | John HOPKINS | USA | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | 01:48.469 |
| 15 | Anthony WEST | AUS | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | 01:48.504 |
| 16 | James TOSELAND | GBR | Tech 3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 01:48.771 |
| 17 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 01:49.092 |
| 18 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Alice Team | Ducati | 01:51.871 |
