The hard-charging Italian began the three-day test on the 2007 machine, before changing to the 2008 model from day two.

The Italian's fastest lap on the ear-splitting GSV-R, a 2mins 2.587secs circulation, came on the third and final day and compared very favourably with his 2mins 3.398secs best while racing the Desmosedici.

"I am quite happy after this test. We did a lot of laps and my feeling for the bike is getting better every time I ride it," declared Loris, 0.7secs slower than the best race-tyre test lap of Yamaha Tech 3's Colin Edwards.

"We tested a lot of different things so I can get an understanding of the bike and the team will be able to know what I want to make sure I can go quicker.

"Every time we went out we tried something different with the settings, and the mapping of the bike and at the end of the last day we found something that was a really good improvement, but we didn't have enough time to work on it," he revealed.

"The whole test has been very positive and I am impressed with how everything is going. We will keep working hard through the winter and I am looking forward to the next tests and making more steps forward - I am enjoying my work, it's fun!" concluded the 2007 Motegi race winner.