De Puniet: more speed to come

The Frenchman, keen to make up for his retirement from the Portuguese Grand Prix, is eyeing improvements to his Ninja ZX-RR despite being happy with its pace on both single laps and long runs.

"That wasn't a bad day," said de Puniet, who ended the day four-tenths slower than pacesetter Dani Pedrosa. "This morning we worked on the settings on the bike and this afternoon we tried a harder compound tyre, which was better for longevity because I did 20 laps on it and my time at the end of the session was still very good.

"We can improve a few bits and pieces, including adjusting the rear suspension slightly and perhaps working with a different rear tyre, but already, it's pretty good and I'm happy."

Teammate Anthony West had a less productive time, lacking confidence with the feel of the bike for much of the day. But some suspension tweaks and tyre work helped improve his fortunes to help him end the day eighth overall.

"This morning I didn't feel so confident but all of a sudden, this afternoon, everything felt good on the bike," said the Australian. "I struggled in the first session with rear grip, just spinning and sliding everywhere, then this afternoon it was so different: just from better grip I could get more of a lean angle in the corners and choose better lines.

"Essentially, I simply felt more comfortable on the bike. It was actually a heap easier to ride and go faster. In one corner, I even got my elbow on the ground once or twice and I've never had that before. It was all a big improvement and the times show that."

Kawasaki's wildcard rider Akira Yanagawa ended the day down in 19th, and said he was blown away by the speed of the MotoGP machines.

"I feel okay," he said. "I have a little problem with chatter on entering the corners but I suspect some of that may be down to me because my riding style is not suited yet to this bike. We need to find a solution to that, if we have time. Anyway, I have to compromise and I need to put in some more laps to get used to the feeling of the Ninja.

"This bike is like nothing I've ever ridden: like the chassis of a 125 with the engine of a rocket ship! I think you probably need a special technique for riding it but I'm sure we can make some further adjustments to help me get more from it."