The high-speed seaside circuit had proved a tough obstacle for the 2007 GSV-R during last October's grand prix - in which the highest placed GSV-R qualified just 14th (John Hopkins) then finished seventh (Hopkins) in the race.

A private November test with an early version of the '08 bike indicated there would be no quick fix and, despite running fourth and fifth on race tyres just a week earlier at Sepang, the latest GSV-R parts proved only a partial solution during this week's 'Island challenge.

Nevertheless, Chris Vermeulen was at least able to chip half-a-second from his GP qualifying time - and set the sixth fastest lap of the test - while also improving on his race pace from the November outing.

"We have found some promising things with the bike today, but we still have some issues to sort out at Phillip Island - it certainly seems to be our bogey track!" confirmed the home rider. "We tested so many options over the three days and tried different things from almost every angle - we've definitely found some direction to help us.

"Our lap-times were quicker than when we came here in November so that certainly means we're moving forward. Everything that Suzuki is doing is definitely helping so that is also a very positive step. We tried some qualifiers and that went quite well, which for me personally is a very encouraging thing as that is certainly an area I need to improve in.

"We now head to Spain for the next test with the season getting closer, we are still scratching our heads on a few things, but I am sure will make further steps in the next few tests in time for the start of the season. It was tough here at Phillip Island but the improvements we have made here will help us at the tracks we are already strong at," he insisted.

New signing Loris Capirossi was just 13th fastest, 2.7secs behind the qualifying tyre time of ex-Ducati team-mate Casey Stoner.

"I had a tough day today and did struggle a bit," confessed the Italian. "I nearly completed a long run but unfortunately that was red flagged [when another rider fell] and I didn't quite finish what I wanted to do. We still have quite a bit of work to do at Phillip Island and I would have liked to have been further up the time sheets as I don't think it is a good reflection of all the hard work the team did this week. We tested many new parts from Japan and some worked, but also some were not quite as good. We now go to Europe and I am sure we will be very competitive after what we have learned here in Australia."

The Jerez test, from February 16-18, will mark Rizla Suzuki's first appearance in its 2008 livery.