Melandri happy with Hayate pace

The Italian, who had completed just two tests all winter on the Hayate Kawasaki before arriving at the Losail circuit, managed to put the non-works bike as high as he managed on a factory Ducati last season.

"I'm very happy," Melandri told Italia 1 TV. "Because it came together so late we've had very little time to get things together.

"Since the Jerez test we've carried on working a lot on the electronics to get the engine braking right, we've changed lots of things on the software, and we're all working together to make it better. I'm enjoying myself."

Melandri's qualifying effort was hampered by an off midway through the session. The five-times MotoGP race-winner speared off into the gravel trap at Turn 1 and had to switch to his spare bike after stalling the engine while trying to rejoin.

"That was unfortunate," Melandri added. "But we're in the middle, in the pack, so it's very positive. We'll just see how it goes in the race. I think there is only one more small modification to make to the bike. It's all very positive."