Rossi stays on title course
Valentino Rossi was left hoping for an improvement in the weather in Motegi after finishing Friday's practice in third place.
The Fiat Yamaha rider will secure his sixth premier class world title on Sunday with a podium finish and after a day blighted by wet conditions was on course.
Reigning champion Casey Stoner needs to win to force Rossi to record a third or better and was quickest on his Marlboro Ducati with a best time of one minute 48.121 seconds.
Rossi said: "This morning it was quite wet and we were very fast from the start.
"We found a good setting and the Bridgestone wet tyre worked very well for me.
"This afternoon in the dry however we had a few more problems and Stoner and Dani Pedrosa were both faster than me.
"At the moment we´re missing a bit of front grip. This track is always quite hard and it doesn't suit our bike perfectly; at the moment we have some issues in the slow corners and we're suffering a bit.
"Anyway, we were still third so it´s not a big problem and I am sure we will be able to improve tomorrow. I hope the weather is better for the rest of the weekend."
Stoner revealed that the scaphoid injury which has hampered him at the last two rounds appears to have improved after topping the timesheets.
The 22-year-old wrapped up the title last year by winning at the Japanese venue and is focusing on a repeat performance to keep his slim chances alive.
He said: "This morning we struggled to find rear grip on the wet track and we couldn't understand why, so this afternoon it was a case of taking our time to get the setting right and eventually we found a decent feel.
"We have a few areas to improve on and one of the things we tried towards the end of this afternoon proved to be a blind alley, so that cost us some time. Basically we tried a new tyre but it was spinning up a lot on the rear and forcing me wide on the brakes.
"We need to make up for that tomorrow and a dry day would certainly help!
"My wrist is feeling pretty good here - much better than it has for the last two races anyway, only in the dry it is a little bit more difficult, in the wet no problems.
"I didn´t use any bandage; I preferred not to because I have not the same movement. If I can I won´t use it."
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