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Hayden leads the way in Istanbul
 Hayden is aiming for a seventh successive podium finish. ISTANBUL, Turkey -- American Nicky Hayden eclipsed MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi in practice for the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul on Friday. The Honda rider, chasing his seventh podium finish in a row, left it to the last minute of the second session at the Istanbul Park circuit before recording the fastest lap of one minute 53.623 seconds. Australian Casey Stoner, the MotoGP rookie who seized pole position at the previous round in Qatar, was on top in the morning session and also led for most of the afternoon before sliding off with 20 minutes left. The Honda LCR ended up in the gravel but the 20-year-old was unhurt. "It's a good start to the weekend," said Hayden, second in the championship. "It's important to come out and get a good pace going. "We'll see what's going to happen with the weather. It doesn't look pretty but rain or shine we'll have to be ready to roll on Sunday afternoon." Rain is forecast for Saturday's qualifying. Yamaha's Rossi, winner in Qatar after his worst start to a season in the top flight at last month's Spanish opener, was only 11th fastest and more than a second slower than former Repsol Honda team mate Hayden. "We made some modifications in order to improve the acceleration and unfortunately we lost a lot of grip in braking," said Rossi, fourth in the championship after two races and making his 100th start in the top category on Sunday. "I am a bit worried but also quite positive because we made some changes at the end of the session, back towards this morning's settings, and we improved a lot and set our fastest lap of the day," added the Italian. Excessive vibrationRossi was troubled by excessive vibration at the season-opener in Spain but he said that had not re-appeared as a problem so far. Compatriot Marco Melandri, winner at Istanbul Park last year, was third fastest on a dry and sunny day on which the top 10 riders were separated by less than a second. Ducati's championship leader Loris Capirossi, who missed last year's inaugural Turkish Grand Prix through injury, was seventh on the timesheets, behind Rossi's Yamaha tea mate Colin Edwards. Spaniards Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias were fourth and fifth quickest for Honda. 
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