Pedrosa starts 'from scratch' on set-up

The Spaniard has regularly struggled in practice so far this season before gaining pace later in the weekend, and said that today at Catalunya - where he was third by the end of the hour - was no better, and that there was still a lot of work to do.

"I never do a good lap time on Friday, I always have to find the basic things," said Pedrosa. "Then I start to try to push to get more out of it.

"Now we have some information, we know we have to improve the grip, we have to improve the braking, also do something with the gearbox."

Pedrosa edged his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso out of third with his final lap, but the Italian was the more content of the duo at the end of practice despite being outpaced.

"I'm not too close but I'm not too far [away], and I'm not too worried about that," said Dovizioso. "We tried a lot in this practice and everything we tried, the bike was better, so I'm happy about that."

Although there was little to choose between the two Honda riders today, Dovizioso reckoned it was too soon to say whether they would be closely-matched all weekend.

"Today it's not important, especially for Dani because normally he doesn't push in first practice," he said. "From tomorrow morning we'll understand much better, and especially in the afternoon because in the afternoon the temperature will get much higher."