One day after the end of the final European MotoGP test, attended by the majority of teams at Jerez, Suzuki and Kawasaki completed their own 2008 track action with a third and final day of testing at Phillip Island on Friday.

Suzuki and Kawasaki chose the Australian venue due to poor past performances at the high-speed seaside circuit.

Suzuki added that "Capirossi and Vermeulen were able to concentrate on testing new parts and engine strategies at this private test rather than having the pressure of going for outright fastest laps and being compared to other riders on-track."

The opposite argument is that, without the leading riders present, it is difficult to accurately assess exactly how successful the new parts have been.

Nevertheless, Loris Capirossi - fastest of the five riders at the test - was adamant that the prototype version of the 2009 GSV-R was ' definitely better' than the 2008 bike.

The Italian's best lap time at the test was a 1min 30.9sec, which was just 0.071sec faster than his best lap in October's grand prix, set on his way to tenth position, but conditions at the test were described as 'windier and with slightly less track grip'. The fastest lap at the GP was a 1min 30.059sec by Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden.

The main weakness of the 2008 GSV-R was in terms of engine performance and sustaining rear grip. Capirossi believes that clear progress was made in terms of rear grip, but more engine work is required.

"Today we were able to compare the old and new bikes and the 2009 prototype is definitely better, especially when the tyre is worn we can maintain a better lap-time, so this is a good step," said the Italian.

"We still have some work to do - especially to improve the engine still further - but it has been a really positive three days for us. I did more than 200 laps and it has been a really good test.

"The prototype bike is already better than the recent one, but the next version we get to try should be even better because that will have lots of new developments and we will be able to use all the information from this test to improve it even further."