Monster Yamaha's James Toseland's progress on a drying track during MotoGP free practice this afternoon was hindered when he ran out of fuel towards the end of the hour-long session.

The two-time World Superbike Champion had been as high as third but ended up in 12th, three places behind team-mate Colin Edwards, but reckons he is happy as he was in the top six for most of the time.

“I didn't have much feeling with the bike when it was full wet but it just kept drying out and I knew the bike set-up would suit the conditions better when it was drying up," said Toseland.

"So I didn't think there was any point in coming if the track conditions were going to get better and I decided to stay out. I did a lot of laps in the mixed conditions in Germany last weekend and that really helped me out a lot today.

"I just kept improving and improving but unfortunately because I stayed out for the session I ran out of fuel right at the time when the track conditions were the best they had been for the whole hour. I wasn't sure how much time was left but having done 28 laps I knew it was going to be close on the fuel. It's a shame because I slipped down the order a little bit but I'm happy because most of that session I was right in the mix in the top six and it was pretty encouraging.

"This weekend is very important for me and as always I put my maximum effort into that session to start the weekend off on a positive note and I think I've done that. I've got unbelievable support here already and that makes me determined to get a good result on Sunday.”