Espargaro receives final day reward

After struggling with sickness and a lack of front-end feel during the first two days of testing at Jerez, Aleix Espargaro lopped 1.5sec from his lap time during a promising final day.

The Power Electronics Aspar rider finished the test 0.8sec behind team-mate Randy de Puniet, but moved back ahead of Speed Master's Mattia Pasini to be the second-best ART rider.

"The first day I was sick, yesterday was better, but a little off, then from this morning the feeling was great," said Espargaro, returning to MotoGP after a season in Moto2.

"Today we worked a lot on the front, and succeeded in gaining confidence. We changed the forks and greatly improved our times. I didn't expect to improve so much.

"I'm leaving Jerez happy. The first two days were not very productive, but we kept working hard and finally today we received our reward.

"The bike is working better than [the previous test] in Valencia, and it is important to see that we are evolving gradually."

Espargaro also offered his condolences to fellow Spanish grand prix rider Esteve Rabat, following a family bereavement.

"I want to send a giant hug to my friend Tito Rabat who is undergoing a tough time following the loss of his mother," said Aleix, older brother of 2012 Moto2 rider Pol.