Rain dampens Ducati progress

From Marlboro Ducati

Bad weather took centre stage at Mugello Friday as the Italian Grand Prix got underway beneath heavy black skies and a series of showers that affected every practice session.

Light rainfall in the morning session saw the riders start out on wet tires and it was only towards the end that a dry line formed, allowing them to change to slick tires - even though the pace was still much slower than usual.

Stoner, who was leading the time sheets at that point, decided that the track wasn't dry enough to gather any accurate data and opted not to run slick tires. As a result he ended the day ninth fastest with a time of 1:58.618 despite lapping third quickest in the afternoon, when the conditions were completely wet.

"This morning was half dry and half wet so it was pretty pointless going out on slick tires and doing slow times," Stoner said. "That's why we decided not to use them at the end of the session, as a few other riders did.

"This afternoon we got some track time in fully wet conditions, which is much more useful. Having said that it was very wet and visibility was almost non-existent - especially behind the screen. So it was quite hard visibility-wise but it was actually quite a lot of fun because the grip was good, especially at the beginning.

"We don't really feel as though we've got the setting down yet. I didn't really feel 100% comfortable on the bike - it was very nervous and I wasn't getting much feeling from the tires so we definitely need to work a little bit harder tomorrow and try to find a different solution if it's going to be wet. As far as I know the forecast is dry, so I guess we'll have to wait and see."

Marco Melandri struggled more than his teammate in the difficult conditions, which didn't give him the opportunity to work on a new engine braking system that the team has brought to Mugello for him. Short of the time necessary to find the right setting, the Italian ended the day with the 15th fastest time of 2:00.162.