Rain hinders Kawasaki in Australia

The Japanese squad continued with the development work of their 2009 bike, with John Hopkins, Marco Melandri and test driver Olivier Jacque on track.

All three drivers, however, were forced to stop their testing early due to brief rain showers.

Melandri was also hampered by a crash but he still managed 64 laps with a best time of 1:31.800. The Italian, whose bike will be rebuilt for tomorrow, was uninjured.

Teammate Hopkins, meanwhile, was again riding in pain due to the ankle injury he suffered back in June.

"I am suffering quite badly with the pain from my ankle, as I just can't put weight on the pegs when accelerating out of the turns," said Hopkins. "We've done a lot of icing and strapping, but it's still very painful to ride.

"This test is important for us, and today we've spent a lot of time testing tyres using the same set-up we had in Valencia, as this gives us a reference point.

"We're not chasing lap times at the minute, particularly with having an injury, but we've definitely found some interesting results and gathered the all-important data we need.

"Hopefully with a bit more rest we can get out on track tomorrow for the last time this year to conclude our test with plenty of laps under our belt."

The team continue testing tomorrow.