Melandri feeling more positive

The Italian has struggled to match the pace of teammate Casey Stoner and suffered another setback today when he spent time working on a new set-up direction that did not work for him.

But despite ending the day more than two seconds slower than Stoner, he is cautiously optimistic that he can make progress in the next test at Phillip Island.

"This morning we started out on the right foot and my laptimes weren't bad," said Melandri. "Then we decided to experiment with a few new avenues to try and improve my feeling but we got a bit lost.

"It's a shame but at least I'm getting to understand the bike and the way the team works more and more each day. I feel really comfortable with my chief engineer and I'm sure that we'll find the solutions to the problems we're having right now.

"I didn't use a qualifier because if you're not ready for them there's no point. I did try a new race tyre though and in my opinion it's a good step forward. I can't say I'm happy but we'll keep working to find the best way forward for me."

Melandri's troubles were in contrast to Stoner's confidence-boosting week - where he was happy with both his bike and his healed shoulder.

"We couldn't have started the year better," said the reigning champion. "My shoulder feels better every day and now I know I can get back to full training.

"I'm leaving Sepang feeling really happy - partly because my shoulder hasn't given me too many problems and partly because I feel even more competitive than last season. Now we have to focus on this season and on getting the best possible start, so I can't wait to continue testing at Phillip Island."

Stoner also said that he did not expect Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa to be at too much of a disadvantage for the start of the season because of his enforced absence from testing through injury

"I'm sure this injury won't affect him too much," said Stoner. "Back in 2006 I missed most of the winter tests and I still started the season competitive so I'm sure he will too because he was looking really strong out here."