The third and final day of testing at the Sepang circuit wound up today with, again, both factory riders from the Gauloises Yamaha squad in action and the works Suzuki outfit also present with test riders Kousuke Akiyoshi and Nobuatsu Aoki in the saddle aboard the revised GSV-R prototype.

The early report from our source in Sepang is that Valentino Rossi predominantly concentrated on testing with the new 2005 "lab" bike and by the end of the day the Italian maestro had unofficially equalled his time from yesterday, thought to be a 2'02.2, that time (Tuesday) set on the revised 2004 machine. Rossi again tested some new evolutions of Michelin race tires but did not test any qualifying rubber.

It was not, however, a positive day for his factory team-mate, Colin Edwards II.

The Texan double WSC Champion had developed blisters on his backside after yesterday's session, the soft seating on his test bike (Checa's 2004 machine) had caused his leathers to rub against the skin upon change of distribution of bodyweight, his body digging into the seat rather than sliding across it, and had caused him much discomfort over night.

With the temperatures having risen again to well over 100 degrees today and with humidity at 70% the Texan Tornado only completed 10 laps and had to call a halt to proceedings as he was in too much pain to continue. He was though reportedly pleased with what he and his team had achieved on a standard M1 over the previous two days.

As and when Yamaha and Suzuki release official times, we will of course update you and provide a a report on the second day of testing at Jerez in Spain where the main body of the HRC effort will join Day 1 participants Ducati, Kawasaki, Aprilia and Team KR-KTM.