Having watched other riders begin to get close to his time from yesterday, Rossi came out late onto the track, but took no time whatsoever in imposing himself on the others once again. After bettering Loris Capirossi's pole time from last year, he eventually improved to a final result of 2'04.343, just under half a second of the West Honda Pons' rider's 2001 record. As the track has had modifications since then however, the times cannot be compared officially, but as the modifications are slight, it does offer a guide to the times made here this weekend.

The only other rider able to get within a second of Rossi was his team-mate Tohru Ukawa, who was quickest in the shortened afternoon session. Having both completed most of their work on set-ups during yesterday and at their previous test here, the Honda riders were quite leisurely today, Ukawa racking up just 36 laps in total. The Chiba-born rider was happy with the two days' efforts though, "Things are looking good, Valentino made a good lap time and so did I; albeit a little bit slower, but I'm happy. Today we tested tyres and fuel injection settings, and I made consistent lap times, so I hope I can keep it like this because I want to win here at Suzuka next week."

More Honda riders followed the two HRC riders, with Daijiro Katoh proving he must not be discounted, as he finished third without improving his time from yesterday, just ahead of Loris Capirossi of the West Honda Pons team. The next bike to feature was that of Kenny Roberts' Suzuki GSV-R four-stroke, which has made significant progress since it first got onto the track at the beginning of February. He was 1.464 behind Rossi, with Checa, Itoh and fellow Suzuki riders Ryo, Gibernau and Kagayama trailing in his wake.

The riders and teams remain in Suzuka now as they gear up for the first race of the season which begins with the official MotoGP opening ceremony on Thursday afternoon.

Valentino Rossi - RC211V: 2m 04.343s - "Today we set some good lap times and we tested many things to find good set-up solutions for the race. We have worked very hard these last two days and we are finally satisfied with the development of the bike. We have three days rest now and we are anxious to see what is going to happen in the race with the two-strokes and four-strokes together."

Tohru Ukawa - RC211V: 2m 04.943s - We are happy with our two days of testing. We found the correct tyres for the race, and we did some good lap times. We tested any solutions for suspension and we know which direction to go in for the race. W are all very curious to see this first race."

Daijiro Katoh - NSR500: 2m 5.540s - "Today we tested new solutions for the suspension and frame, we are not really satisfied yet but we know which direction to work in for the race.  The bike has good potential on how to set it up for the race. We worked hard and we are happy enough with the outcome."

Loris Capirossi - NSR500: 2m 05.782s - "On Saturday we did not take too many risks with the new bike. Today I felt confident and lapped harder. The lap times came down, I improved and I am now much closer to the leaders. Bad weather stopped us completing all the work we had planned, particularly on tyres, and we must work harder right from the beginning of next Friday's practice. I am looking forward to the start of the World Championship as the races are much more fun than testing."

Carlos Checa - YZR M1: 2m05.821s - "I'm feeling highly motivated, if we compare ourselves to the fastest bikes we still need to improve, but we've made good progress here this weekend. We won't know exactly where we are until we're racing next Sunday and I think we can get closer to the front than we are at the moment. We need a better overall balance from our bike and there are many areas in which we can improve: engine, chassis, even the rider. But I'm confident in Yamaha and confident in this project, and looking forward to going racing."

Max Biaggi - YZR M1: 2m06.296s -"I was planning to use the final hour of the tests to do my best lap but the rain got in the way.  We've got the bike pretty much at its maximum for the moment, so we still have plenty of work to do. Right now I think I could go as quick as the quickest two-strokes but we need to continue making improvements if we're to catch the fastest bikes."

Alex Barros - NSR500: 2m 06.858s - "I am not to concerned about the times I have done as the main aim of this practice has been to prepare the bike for the race. I have been concentrating on many different aspects of the bike without pushing hard at all as I have been gathering information. I wanted to try out a number of tyre compounds but it was impossible. In spite of this I'm still optimistic about the season which is about to get underway."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh - NSR500 - "We're making small steps in progress but we are not where we want to be. We are now using tyres we have tested before and they seem to be a bit better. The progress we have made is not in place but the lap time is better - we are pushing hard."
 

Official best times

1. Valentino ROSSI, ITA (Honda) - 2'04.343
2. Tohru UKAWA, JPN (Honda) - 2'04.943
3. Daijiro KATOH, JPN (Honda) - 2'05.540
4. Loris CAPIROSSI, ITA (Honda) - 2'05.782
5. Kenny ROBERTS, USA (Suzuki) - 2'05.807
6. Carlos CHECA, SPA (Yamaha) - 2'05.821
7. Shinichi ITOH, JPN (Honda) - 2'05.931
8. Akira RYO, JPN (Suzuki) - 2'06.065
9. Sete GIBERNAU - SPA (Suzuki) - 2'06.085
10. Yukio KAGAYAMA - JPN (Suzuki) - 2'06.130