Spies leads way in rainy Aragon

American Ben Spies set the pace under the rain on his Yamaha after the first two practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Aragon MotoGP on Friday. Spies like most of the MotoGP rides skipped the first session because of the part-wet surface but clocked the fastest time of 2min 00.219sec in the second afternoon session, finishing 11 seconds short of Australian Casey Stoner's record on a dry surface at the Zaragoza track. "It was a good wet session so we're happy with it, the bike feels good and we're quick," said Spies. "We got a good setting with the bike sorted and we got some new information with the electronics so we'll see what happens tomorrow with the weather. As long as everything keeps going smoothly then that's all we need." Dani Pedrosa was second on a Honda at 0.066sec with fellow Spaniard and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo third on his Yamaha at 0.527. "At least we had a full wet session this afternoon to work with the bike and I felt quite good," said Pedrosa. "It looks like the weather forecast is also bad for tomorrow, so it will be important to take advantage of the morning practice to be well prepared for qualifying." Lorenzo admitted the wet conditions had threw up a number of problems ahead of Saturday qualifying. "In the morning we could have practiced but we preferred to stay in the box and save the engine life a little," said the Spaniard. "This afternoon with full wet conditions we were able to go out and see what the feeling is with the bike in the rain in case we have a wet race on Sunday. The track is very slippery." Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy clocked the eighth fastest time for Ducati at 2.193sec.