Hayden takes the advantage

teamcar - Blessed by favorable conditions, the riders made the most of their final free practice sessions, on Saturday morning, to get themselves in good shape for Sunday's Portuguese GP.

Standings leader Nicky Hayden set the pace on Saturday morning, being the only rider to dip under the 1'37 with a scorching 1'36''846 fastest lap. Unsurprisingly, his closest rival proved to be Camel Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi. Third was Hayden's teammate Dani Pedrosa, ahead of Kenny Roberts Jr and Colin Edwards – Rossi's teammate.

Loris Capirossi found some more pace to make it into the top ten behind Gibernau and Friday's fastest man Casey Stoner. On the contrary, Carlos Checa could not keep up with the leaders and had to content himself with the eleventh fastest time, 1.8s away from Hayden.

The Spaniard edged out Fortuna Honda rider Marco Melandri, back on the saddle after the heavy crash he suffered during Friday's afternoon session.