Dovizioso fastest in Catalunya test

Under this year's cost-cutting testing reductions, most of the formerly regular post-race test days have been cancelled, leaving only today's Catalunya session and one at Brno in August.

Riding a new Honda chassis that his team-mate Dani Pedrosa had been due to try until he decided to pull out on medical advice to rest his injuries, Dovizioso set a best time of 1m42.230s, 0.2 seconds quicker than the factory Yamaha pair.

Valentino Rossi took the morning off to rest after winning Sunday's astounding dice with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, then tried a version of the new 'long life' engine that Yamaha will introduce when the multiple-race engine rules come into effect at mid-season. The Italian out-paced Lorenzo by 0.012s with a late qualifying simulation run.

Mika Kallio took an impressive fourth on the Pramac Ducati, ahead of factory rider Casey Stoner, who limited his mileage as he continued to struggle with the illness that hampered his race. His team-mate Nicky Hayden was a further 1.4s slower and back in 14th.

"Right from the start I didn't have the same feeling as I had over the weekend," Hayden said. "I don't know why."

Kallio's team-mate Niccolo Canepa was another Ducati rider in trouble, crashing without injury during the afternoon. Hayate Kawasaki's Marco Melandri also fell late in the session, but was unhurt.

In addition to Pedrosa, Scot Honda's Yuki Takahasi also sat out the test having broken a finger when he crashed on the opening lap yesterday, and the Tech 3 Yamaha team decided not to participate.

Pos  Rider             Bike             Time       Gap
 1.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            1m42.230s
 2.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           1m42.434s  + 0.204s
 3.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           1m42.446s  + 0.216s
 4.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati    1m42.637s  + 0.407s
 5.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           1m42.763s  + 0.533s
 6.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           1m43.188s  + 0.958s
 7.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        1m43.247s  + 1.017s
 8.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           1m43.299s  + 1.069s
 9.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    1m43.360s  + 1.130s
10.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati    1m43.391s  + 1.161s
11.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  1m43.506s  + 1.276s
12.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    1m43.708s  + 1.478s
13.  Sete Gibernau     Hernando Ducati  1m43.819s  + 1.589s
14.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           1m44.157s  + 1.927s
15.  Gabor Talmacsi    Scot Honda       1m45.056s  + 2.826s