Kawasaki struggle for traction

The problem meant that Hopkins and West ended the first dry session 16th and 17th fastest, but even in the wet, where the Ninja ZZ-XR is normally more efficient, the problem remained.

This meant that rain-master West, possibly racing in his last home grand prix for the foreseeable future, could only rise to 12th in the standings.

"We had the same problems we've had all season this morning, where the bike just wants to spin up as soon as you touch the throttle exiting the corner," said West. "It was frustrating, because I was losing so much time just on acceleration out of the turn, especially exiting the left-hander onto the main straight, where it's so important to carry as much speed as possible.

"This afternoon we had similar problems, but I was also struggling with the stability under braking, as the bike felt like it wanted to run on at the slower corners.

"It's frustrating, because normally I can count on being much further up the timesheet when it's wet, but it just wasn't possible today because of the issues with the bike."

Hopkins, who finished up 14th in the wet second hour, put the problems down to going the wrong way on setup and remains convinced that the team will be in a better position on Saturday.

"Today we got it a bit wrong and it was difficult to find traction exiting the turns this morning," he said. "We made some improvements during the session, but the rain in the afternoon meant we weren't able to progress any further.

"Although we also had some problems with rear grip in the wet this afternoon, I'm happy that we know exactly what we need to change for tomorrow, regardless of whether it turns out wet or dry."