Home-hero Casey Stoner was second fastest in wet conditions on Friday at Phillip Island.

Australia’s 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner has marked the opening day of the Iveco Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix a success after lapping second quickest behind new champion Jorge Lorenzo on Friday.

Stoner, who is shooting for four-straight AGP wins on Sunday, settled into second for Ducati in mixed weather conditions on Friday, and hopes for consistent weather – wet or dry – for the remainder of the weekend.

“The conditions were difficult today and obviously we had the big delay too, which is not the ideal way to prepare,” Stoner commented.

“Also we would prefer a fully wet session but it started to dry towards the end and that denied us the opportunity to confirm the settings or get a full understanding of the conditions.

“Other than the wind, which made things very difficult, it was quite a successful day. We made a couple of changes and I feel we made a little improvement with the bike but again because of the conditions we weren’t able to get much of a direction. Hopefully tomorrow we get consistent weather, whatever it may be, so that we can get a proper idea of our set-up in either the wet or the dry.”

Directly behind Stoner was teammate and fellow former world champion Nicky Hayden, the popular America making it two Ducatis in the top three in a solid start to the weekend.

Free practice two and qualifying will take place during Saturday’s proceedings.