Hayden: Repsol Honda need to improve

Former champion Hayden was seventh quickest, 1.122 seconds slower than pacesetter Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), while teammate Dani Pedrosa took 13th as he continued to recover from hand injuries sustained earlier in the winter.

"We tried race tyres tonight and at the end we tried a couple of qualifiers, we went quicker but we're not where we need to be," Hayden said.

"We left Jerez feeling really confident but we've been brought back to reality. Now we've got some work to do, we need to try to come up with something to make an improvement.

"I think we can get the bike to hold the line better and finish the corner better. Now Honda have got a couple of days to think about stuff and I've got some time to go over some lines, so hopefully come Friday night we'll be closer to where we need to be."

Pedrosa said the team had tried a variety of settings but still lacked pace.

"It's been quite a difficult two days here," he said. "So far we haven't found the solution to the problems we are having. We've tried many different things but at the moment we aren't getting the results we were expecting."

The pace of the customer Hondas added to Pedrosa's confusion. LCR rider Randy de Puniet finished the test in third place, while rookie Andrea Dovizioso took sixth for JiR Team Scot.

"The main problem is grip," Pedrosa said. "The tyres are fine, you can see that because the guys with the 2007 Hondas and Michelins are fast, so it's something else.

"Maybe riding at night has some influence on this, because there's a lot of humidity, but that's the same for everybody."

Pedrosa's broken hand has limited his pre-season mileage, but he said the injury was now healing well.

"My right hand is little bit better," he said. "I had some time to rest it after Jerez, so here I've been able to ride more laps than I could manage at Jerez."