Bridgestone expects tough battle

Tohru Ubukata, Bridgestone's manager of race tyre development, believes that the fact Michelin riders topped the times on all three days of the test, allied to the French rubber's strong race pace, shows his Japanese company is in for a big battle this year.

"It is never easy nor really accurate to draw conclusions after one test, but the results do give some early indications that the MotoGP field is very competitive already," he said.

"The competition looks set to be very tough this season, so we are not taking anything as guaranteed.

"From a tyre point of view, we expect a big effort from our very experienced rivals, but we are working hard to find the best direction for our season development to give our teams the most competitive tyres possible at all times."

Ubukata said Bridgestone was still looking to improve its qualifying pace, which it admitted was weak compared to Michelin last year. But, following this week's test, he is confident it is on the right track.