Having gone quickest at the first test of the year at Sepang International Circuit, Viñales didn’t do a fast lap towards the end of the session in Australia – with his 1:29.990 proving the best of 64 laps.

"About today, I think I can be happy in one area." Said the Yamaha new recruit "On the race pace and basic set-up we made a good step, I feel comfortable."

"We didn‘t set a fast lap time at the end of the session, in the last ten minutes we went back in the box." He added.

"We still have time until Qatar to be fast and try to improve the bike and I think our objective here is to be consistent and really fast."

“We were happy with today’s test, and even though we were unable to set a fast lap time this was just down to a couple of slight problems in the morning when the track was in the best shape." Said the Brit

"That was when the temperature was good and the faster laps went in for other riders. The priority for our day, however, was to do a long run and get some more information for Honda."

“We managed that in the end and we were quite pleased with how it all went considering we also had a small issue in the long run. Our big limitation of the day only seemed to be the new front tyre, and not just for us, for many riders, when we found we were really on the limit and unable to push.

“Now we have to give all the information we have gathered in the past three days to HRC, and I think we can be positive ahead of the next test in Qatar. We look forward to going there now, and working well as a team once more.”

After 61 laps, the 2010, 2012 and 2015 MotoGP™ World Champion had posted a best of 1:30.631.

“Here in Phillip Island we’ve begun much better than the first day in Sepang, with the base that we established during the test in Malaysia." Said the former World Champion.

"The shame is that, during the last hour and a half, we weren’t able to improve whereas the rest of the grid did."

"It was difficult for us to lower the laptime due to the strong wind - and the final rear tyre we used didn’t have the grip we anticipated." He concluded.

"The positive is that every day we make new conclusions and we’re making little steps forward."

Valentino Rossi had a tough morning at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, before shooting up the timesheets in a late time-attack to take second.

The nine-time World Champion first worked on setup, and evaluated different frames and fairings.

Despite stronger winds, the skies were blue and the Italian put in 77 laps, with a best of 1:29.683 – less than two-tenths off arch rival Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) at the top of the timesheets.

“It was a good day, I‘m quite satisfied. We started in a difficult way this morning." Said the Doctor.

"Before the break I wasn‘t strong enough and because I couldn‘t push at the maximum I didn‘t have a lot of feeling."

We worked well during the break and in the afternoon the situation changed, I was a bit better." He added "At the end, with the new tyre, I was able to do a good lap and second position is positive for the first day."

"For sure, we still have a lot to do, especially on the long distance and we hope to have good weather also in the next few days.”