Tech 3 riders encouraged by pace

Edwards clocked a best time more than half a second quicker than his nearest rival, although he did use qualifying tyres.

He said: "Once I got a good pace going I chucked a couple of qualifiers in. You never know what the weather is going to do here and we wanted to make sure the adjustments for the qualifier were taking us the right way.

"The bike feels good at this track compared to what I raced with a few months ago. Yamaha has been working hard and the new parts are definitely a step in the right direction, particularly with the electronics, which has helped on corner entry and exit."

Toseland was pleased to be in the top five on just his fourth outing on the Yamaha YZR-M1: "The first few laps I was able to hit the same six inches of track and it was nice to be at the sharp end of the times.

"When you can hit the same spot lap after lap you can really concentrate on set-up and gradually improve. I've got a slight problem with chatter from the front as I tip it into fast corners so I'll be working on that tomorrow.

"But it's nice to be doing decent times with a few problems. I also passed somebody on the brakes for the first time in MotoGP, taking Chris Vermeulen into the first turn, which I was pretty proud of."

The Phillip Island test continues through tomorrow and Friday.