Casey Stoner has marked the quickest lap on the first day of the Valencia testing, with a best time of 1’32.660, and the Aussie was happy with the performance of his machine.

A smash upon warming up ahead of Sunday’s event, the final race of the season, meant Stoner could not take his spot on the grid, however a positive day at the Ricardo Tormo track left him in front on the timesheet.

“We tried a new engine configuration designed at improving the rideability of the bike and for the moment it is going really well,” says Stoner. “The feedback is smoother and we improved traction with the same set-up we used over the weekend, so that is positive. We also tried some different forks and in general I am satisfied.”

“We didn't do many laps today – just tried to make sure we were working in the right direction. I think we are and I can't wait to get back on track tomorrow, when hopefully it won't be as windy.”

Racing the other Ducati factory engine, Nicky Hayden marked the fifth fastest lap of the day, just 0.698s behind his colleague.

“I was really looking forward to getting back out on track today and starting work on next season,” says Hayden. “We have a direction to work in and loads of work to do but we made a lot of progress already today. We don't have a lot of tyres available and just worked with two sets – a hard one and a softer one – with very similar times on both that were not far off my qualifying time from Saturday.”

He adds, “We tried some engine updates on one of the bikes, some forks and a couple of different settings but this is just the start and it is early to say which is best because the lap times have been very similar. Generally it's been a good first day and I'm happy.”