Dovizioso pleased with wet pace

The Italian, who will step up to the factory Honda team after this weekend's race, came into the pits ten minutes before the end of the morning session and spent the drier running in the afternoon evaluating different tyres.

"I'm happy with the result we have reached because under these conditions it was not easy to go fast and many riders have been slow," said Dovizioso.

"We started working on a wet setting, but we stopped testing because the conditions were just too bad and we would be taking unnecessary risks.

"In the afternoon, the track was still damp but we did a good job. I tried to run with three types of tyre from the wet range and we understood the way to go for practice tomorrow if the weather doesn't change.

"I did want to try another configuration, to anticipate conditions tomorrow, but we did not have time. Either way, I'm confident that tomorrow we can improve."