Casey Stoner saved his best for last to snatch the top spot from MotoGP championship leader Jorge Lorenzo at the end of a wet second free practice session at Aragon. Despite the total change in conditions, Pedrosa once again led the early stages of the afternoon - and was still leading at the halfway mark of the 45-minute session – but then dropped back to 13th by the checkered flag. Stoner and Lorenzo were frontrunners throughout, and the pair exchanged the top spot during the final 20 minutes, with the Ducati rider jumping into first place for the final time by 0.568s from the Fiat Yamaha rider as the chequered flag waved. Like Lorenzo and Stoner, Hayden was quick in both sessions, finishing third in the wet (+0.7sec) and was just ahead of reigning seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi. As he had been in the dry, Rossi was just over a second from the top. Gresini Honda had the top satellite rider in both sessions, with rookie Marco Simoncelli fifth in the first session before teammate Marco Melandri took over that same position in the afternoon. Pedrosa's Repsol Honda teammate Andrea Dovizioso was 8-6 in the two sessions, with LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet 12-7 and Ben Spies 10-8 for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Hector Barbera ran top three at several points during the wet session, but finished only ninth - he was seventh in the morning - with Simoncelli 10th in the wet. Today saw the return of two Friday practice sessions of 45 minutes apiece rather than an hour in a trial system which will be reviewed following the GP. Saturday's final practice session and qualifying will also be 45 minutes to avoid extra strain on the engines. Aragon was called up to replace the unfinished Balatonring circuit in Hungary. It is supposed to revert to reserve status after this year's event, but few will be surprised if Aragon remains on the MotoGP calendar for 2011 and beyond. Aragon is the third of four MotoGP rounds in Spain this year. Pedrosa extends deal Spain's Dani Pedrosa Thursday signed a new two-year deal with Honda which will keep him at the Japanese factory team for the 2011 and 2012 world motorcycling championship. Pedrosa, 24, who is currently second in the title race behind compatriot Jorge Lorenzo, said he was delighted to pen a new contract. “This has been the team of my dreams since I was a kid and that's still the same feeling I have now,” said Pedrosa, who will be chasing a third successive win this season in Sunday's Grand Prix of Aragon. “Over many years we have built up a very strong relationship and have enjoyed the successes and faced the difficulties together. Our goal of course is to fight for victories every weekend and win the MotoGP World Championship. I believe we have what it takes to do both of those things.” Pedrosa has been with Honda for his entire senior career, winning 35 races in all classes and 12 MotoGP. Next season he will be joined at Honda by Australia's former world champion Casey Stoner, who is moving from Ducati.
