The Frenchman, a factory Kawasaki rider for the past two seasons, was a promising seventh fastest on Tuesday - but jumped up to third on Wednesday, behind only Honda's Nicky Hayden and MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner, as he also took Michelin race tyres 0.3secs under his best ZX-RR lap from Sunday's season ending grand prix.

"I'm even happier today than I was yesterday when I tried the Honda RC212V and Michelin tyres for the first time," smiled Randy, who took his first MotoGP podium this season. "Using the same type of race tyre as Pedrosa I was 0.3secs faster than my best on the Kawasaki in Sunday's race here.

"Today we worked on suspension, mainly the front forks, and trying front and rear tyres for Michelin. I was more comfortable with the handling today. We also reduced the traction control to give a little more power and we need to work more in this electronic area, there are still more options to try. My decision to move to LCR for 2008 is already paying dividends; the team is like a family," he declared.