Bad weather has stopped play at the Valencia MotoGP test today with only a handful of  riders going out to test either engines or chassis and tyre setup. It has been raining on and off since this morning, so most of the teams have called it an afternoon. Only seven riders ventured out, with Nicky Hayden posting the fastest time.
Hayden´s time of 1´48.287 on the last of his twenty laps put him ahead of Italians Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Melandri on a shortened timesheet, with no action on track before 3pm. Hayden was typically the last rider remaining on track at the end of the session at 5pm and returned to the Ducati pit-box to the applause of both sides of the garage.
This cuts even shorter an already reduced winter testing schedule. The switch to a single tyre and the pending global recession has already seen the schedule trimmed down with the usual season opening test in Sepang in January cancelled.

The traditional test at Phillip Island a month later has also been cut while the three-day test at Jerez next month has been shortened by a day to two. This now gives Britain's James Toseland even less time to get used to the new tyres, and a new bike which appears in February.

There will now only be three tests in 2009 before the season opens. Sepang in early February, Qatar a month later, and the last one in Jerez at the end of March. 
Official times
1. N. Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team - 1´48.287
2. A. Dovizioso, Repsol Honda - 1´48.296
3. M. Melandri, Kawasaki Racing Team - 1´48.786
4. N. Canepa, Alice Team - 1´49.917
5. M. Kallio, Alice Team - 1´50.275
6. T. Elias, Team San Carlo - 1´54.057
7. L. Capirossi, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 1´57.322