Italian MotoGP: Chris Vermeulen shines in the rain in second practice

Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen has finished top of the timesheets in this afternoon’s second Italian MotoGP practice, held in pouring rain.

The wet weather man, who won in the wet at Le Mans last year, was on form from early on in the session recording a 2:07.991.

After sitting among the top riders throughout the session it took his final flying lap to secure him the top spot as he came down six seconds to grab a best time of 2:01.500.

Former MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden will be a relieved man to have finished the session second.

The Repsol Honda rider’s future looks uncertain at the factory team so his 2:02.010 will be a confidence booster ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session.

And British fans will be glad to see James Toseland doing well in Mugello as the Tech 3 Yamaha rider sat in the lead on a couple of occasions before ending the session fifth on a best lap of 2:02.412.

The 27-year-old’s only outing at Mugello before today was a thank you ride from Ducati after winning his first World Superbike title in 2004.

Valentino Rossi finished the session in fourth after failing to really make much of a statement at the Italian circuit so far this weekend following his two consecutive wins in China and France.

The times were a good five seconds slower than this morning as the conditions took their toll on the whole field.

And the wet also results in a few crashers during the hour-long session with Kawasaki’s Anthony West running into the gravel while Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi was unlucky to head straight for the tyre wall, although he did get going again.

Not so fortunate were Tadayuki Okada, who’s testing the new pneumatic valve engine for Repsol Honda and Gresini Honda’s Shinya Nakano.

Italian MotoGP free practice two results:

1 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 2’01.500
2 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2’02.010
3 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 2’02.305
4 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 2’02.327
5 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 2’02.412
6 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 2’02.562
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA 2’02.569
8 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 2’03.568
9 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 2’03.586
10 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2’03.699
11 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 2’03.765
12 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 2’03.950
13 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 2’04.049
14 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 2’05.397
15 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 2’05.634
16 Tadayuki OKADA JPN Repsol Honda Team HONDA 2’06.103
17 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team DUCATI 2’06.257
18 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team DUCATI 2’08.980
19 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 2’14.112