2006 MotoGP rookie of the year, Dani Pedrosa, made his return to action following minor arm surgery at Jerez today, where he finished day one of the final 2006 test as the fastest Honda rider.

Though cold track temperatures in the morning and rain from lunchtime onwards made lap-times largely irrelevant, Pedrosa completed a valuable 44 laps - more than any other rider - as he eased himself back into riding the 800cc Repsol Honda RC212V he will campaign next year.

In the brief dry session this morning the 21-year-old Spaniard clocked a time of 1min 44.030secs, good enough for fourth overall, before switching to Michelin wet tyres once the rain arrived. As the rain eased, Pedrosa's team then worked on settings for the tricky 'half-and-half' conditions encountered on a slowly drying track, but refrained from trying changes to geometry as they have yet to optimise the best baseline settings for dry conditions.

"Today we didn't get to test much really because of the weather, but it was useful for me to get back into the rhythm of riding a MotoGP bike after nearly one month off," said the young Spaniard, who missed the previous Sepang test due to his arm operation. "If the weather is good tomorrow then I will be fine to do a full day's practice - so today was worth it as a warm up, and the arm felt fine."

Pedrosa's team-mate and reigning world champion, Nicky Hayden, is not present at the test as he undergoes treatment on his injured shoulder. The 25-year-old American will return to the track in the first test of 2007 at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on January 22.