Rossi on top as Jerez weather clears

After another very wet morning, rain relented enough for a few hours of dry running on day two of the final winter test.

Rossi took advantage of that break in the weather to set a 1m39.525s and move to the front before the rain returned.

“It’s not important, but it’s very important,” Rossi said of the result.

“To end the day with the best lap time is great, not just because of the position but also because we modified some of the settings of the bike after the first test to adapt the M1 more to my style.

"It’s good because I am able to go faster, like Jorge, in all sectors of the lap. For tomorrow, we have a new chassis with some small differences, so both Jorge and I will try it. We hope to be able to improve our level a bit.”

His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo closed to within 0.015 seconds but could not depose the Italian.

It ended up being a very tight all-Yamaha top three, as Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow moved up to third, 0.049s off Rossi.

Top Honda was Dani Pedrosa in fourth, a tenth off the pace. His team-mate Marc Marquez was three places further back.

Ducati produced its best performance of the winter as Andrea Dovizioso went fifth quickest, only eight tenths down on the leader.

Alvaro Bautista was sixth fastest for Gresini Honda despite missing the final hours following a violent crash with left him with two minor fractures to his fingers.

Stefan Bradl, Andrea Iannone and Nicky Hayden completed the top 10, just ahead of CRT pacesetter Hector Barbera.