Pedrosa quickest in Estoril test

The Repsol Honda rider, who finished in second place in Sunday's race, posted a best time of 1:36.455 to finish ahead of Yamaha's Valentino Rossi.

Pedrosa and teammate Nicky Hayden were unable to test the pneumatic valve engine they were scheduled to sample at Estoril, as Honda continue with its development. The team tested the new power unit during the winter but they are yet to race it.

Despite that, Pedrosa finished over two tenths ahead of Rossi, with Andrea Dovizioso in third and Hayden down in fourth. Colin Edwards completed a positive weekend at Estoril by posting the fifth quickest time on his Tech 3 Yamaha.

World champion Casey Stoner continue to be far from the top of the timesheets, the Ducati rider finishing as seventh fastest, nearly a second off Pedrosa's time. The Australian was nonetheless pleased with his work.

"I'm happy with the work we've done today," said Stoner. "We modified a few things that made the bike a little less nervous over the bumps and allowed me to lap in 1:37s with more consistency than I managed yesterday. We also tried a few new tyres and found some interesting things.

"At the end of the day I tried two qualifiers but I preferred not to try a third one because it had been a long day and it was pointless taking risks when I was tired.

"I'm really happy with the work we've done and the pace we found. I'm sure the improvements will help us when we get to China but now I'm just looking forward to heading back to Australia and spend some time relaxing with the family."

Portuguese Grand Prix winner Jorge Lorenzo was absent from the test after travelling to Barcelona to have surgery in his arm.

MotoGP teams will have now a three-week break before the next race in China.

Today's times:

Pos  Rider                  Bike          Time     
 1.  Dani Pedrosa           Honda         1:36.455
 2.  Valentino Rossi        Yamaha        1:36.707
 3.  Andrea Dovizioso       Honda         1:36.791
 4.  Nicky Hayden           Honda         1:36.928
 5.  Colin Edwards          Yamaha        1:37.145
 6.  Randy De Puniet        Honda         1:37.146
 7.  Casey Stoner           Ducati        1:37.330
 8.  Chris Vermeulen        Suzuki        1:37.617
 9.  Shinya Nakano          Honda         1:37.725
10.  James Toseland         Yamaha        1:37.767
11.  Loris Capirossi        Suzuki        1:37.781
12.  Alex De Angelis        Honda         1:37.782
13.  John Hopkins           Kawasaki      1:38.023
14.  Toni Elias             Ducati        1:38.695
15.  Anthony West           Kawasaki      1:39.065
16.  Sylvain Guintoli       Ducati        1:39.223
17.  Marco Melandri         Ducati        1:39.725