Casey Stoner made the most of a dry track to record the fastest time of the day ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

The Ducati rider recorded a time of one minute 30.094 seconds in his 14th lap of the one-hour session and was nearly seven-tenths of a second faster than new MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi.

Rossi was second quickest in the session on his Yamaha with a best lap of 1:30.764sec while rookie Alex de Angelis of San Marino was third fastest of the day with a time of 1:31.043. Italian Andrea Dovizioso was fourth with 1:31.051.

The dry conditions gave way to rain in the afternoon and Nicky Hayden profited on the wet track to record the fastest time in the second practice session.

The Honda rider recorded a time of 1:38.820 while Andrea Dovizioso was second fastest with a best lap of 1:39.575 and Chris Vermeulen third with a time of 1:39.824 on his Suzuki.

Stoner, who is racing at his home Grand Prix despite having a wrist injury, could only manage fourth-fastest in the afternoon and was over 1.75 seconds slower than Hayden while Rossi was sixth-quickest with a time of 1:40.892.

After last weekend´s Grand Prix Commission decision to have a single tyre supplier as of next season, Stoner admitted he was unsure as to whether it will improve races.

"I will keep my judgment until it is proven but I don´t know if it is going to make the racing any better," he said on the MotoGP's official website. "We will see.

"There are still always gaps, you see in the 250cc class that they are all on the same tyres and there are still disadvantages and gaps. If it is not one thing to complain about people find another.

"We have been riding with Bridgestone for two years now and we are very happy with their current results and depending on what tyre we go with for the one-tyre make it is going to be interesting."

Rossi offered a different view, stating: "I agree with the `mono-tyre´ rule.

"For sure at the beginning you need time to adapt to the new situation, for all the manufacturers and for all the riders, because with a one-tyre rule it will change things a lot.

"Sometimes you don´t have the perfect tyre for each racetrack, but everyone will have the same problems or the same advantage. I think for the future it is a good idea. I think it will be good to have fun races, with more different riders on the same level fighting for the victory."