Heavy rainfall at lunchtime saw the afternoon session starting with a partially wet track and the
MotoGP field progressing from full wet tyres to intermediates to slicks as the surface slowly dried.
Pedrosa spent a significant portion of the session at the head of the timesheets, before slipping to fourth, 0.850secs from
Randy de Puniet, when the chequered flag came out just before 3pm.
"The day went pretty well and we've made a lot of progress with the set-up today," began the Repsol Honda rider. "The new surface here seems ok. There are some sections of the new track where there are many small bumps but they are not too severe so we should be able to deal with them. Also the grip is not bad, although the feeling is slightly strange through some sections of the track - I think because it is a new surface.
"We're expecting the grip to improve as more rubber is laid down over the course of the weekend. I think we were pretty lucky with the weather today. We lost some time in both sessions, but we missed the worst of the rain. Tomorrow we'll continue with the set-up work and hopefully get a good starting position in qualifying. It would be nice to have three pole positions in a row of course, but our rivals look strong again so we'll have to work very hard for it," he declared.
Team-mate
Nicky Hayden may have been the next best Michelin rider after Pedrosa, but he was just tenth quickest and a further one second slower.
"This afternoon wasn't that stellar," said the American. "I probably wasted too much time on full wets and intermediates. In those conditions, especially on intermediates, is where I need to step up my game because we could get these conditions really easily on Sunday. Once we got going we improved our speed from this morning but we're quite a way from where we need to be.
