Honda riders impressed with circuit

While Casey Stoner had suggested that the bumps were a major issue at an otherwise excellent venue, the Honda duo reckoned the layout made up for the surface.

"The design of the track is so nice," Dovizioso said. "Unfortunately there are a lot of bumps, so it's not 100 per cent nice because it's not very flat.

"But anyway the bumps are the same for everybody and I like the characteristics of the track a lot."

Pedrosa felt the surface was only an issue on the sections of the circuit that had not been modified to create the new Arena layout.

"I found the track very bumpy on the old surface, but on the new surface it was perfect," he said. "Good grip and good feeling."

He said the layout offered a variety of challenges.

"It is fast, but also you slow down. It has four really fast corners, but there are also some slow corners, so it's a mix," said Pedrosa. "But then you have long, long straights. It's difficult to know the point to brake and which line I should take."

Dovizioso added that he had found it similarly hard to pick a line and braking points.

"In some places it's really difficult to understand the line," he said. "Corner number seven [Stowe], you brake later and later but you are always too slow."