In the absence of new parts, Yamaha Tech 3 riders Cal Crutchlow and
Andrea Dovizioso used Monday's Mugello test to work on improving the set-up of their M1s.
For Crutchlow the aim was to improve his early race speed. The British rider was satisfied with progress made having set the fifth quickest time, 0.315s behind factory M1 rider Jorge Lorenzo.
“I am feeling pretty tired now because it has been a hectic period in the Championship and today it was very hot,” said Crutchlow, who finished sixth in Sunday's race. “But it was a good test and it gave me the chance to work on the bike for the beginning of the race.
“Each time I went out I had a full fuel tank and we definitely made some progress. I can still improve but I will be going to Laguna Seca confident that I will be faster in the first part of the race.
“This season I have been really strong as the race has gone on, so we need to work on improving my speed right from the off. We worked on a few different settings and it was interesting to understand how they affected the bike and that will give us some options in the second part of the season."
Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who has delighted Tech 3 with four podiums from his first nine races for the team, used the chance for extra track time to get further acquainted with the M1.
The Italian, third in Sunday's grand prix, set a best lap time a fraction slower than Crutchlow for sixth place on the test timesheets.
Dovi heads to the forthcoming US GP with a fifth podium firmly in his sights.
“Today we just concentrated on trying modifications to the set-up that we don't normally have time to experiment with on a race weekend,” confirmed Dovizioso. “We changed the geometry of the bike to help me understand some different options for the future and we definitely improved the bike from yesterday's race.
“We made the bike better on the front-end to help enter the corner better and the good thing is the changes we made should help at the next race in Laguna Seca. I also worked a little on my riding style with the M1 and now I am even more confident for Laguna Seca where I'm sure I can be battling for another podium.”