At the conclusion of his first ever test on the new 800cc Honda RC212V, Toni Elias echoed Nicky Hayden's warning over the current competitiveness of the machine's V4 engine.

Gresini Honda rider Elias completed the three-day Sepang outing in sixth position, just 0.27secs behind new world champion and factory Repsol rider Hayden, but was nearly two-seconds behind Suzuki's John Hopkins.

Afterwards Elias, who also had to understand the characteristics of his new Bridgestone tyres, stated that he is already pleased with the chassis, but that the engine needs 'a lot of work'.

"I like the machine, the seating position makes it easier to ride than the 990cc," declared the young Spaniard, who took his first MotoGP victory during 2006. "I am very satisfied with the chassis although we didn't work on that too much today apart from trying different rear shock and various suspension settings.

"I am getting more comfortable on the bike, not 100% yet but at the January test I'm sure we will finalise the base set up we need to make the bike perform the way we want it. We have a lot of work to do on the engine but I am confident HRC and my team will do their best to be ready for my next test."

Meanwhile, Elias also joined Hayden in completing some wet weather laps after rain in the afternoon.

"In the afternoon I concentrated on testing for Bridgestone and tried many different constructions and compounds. The Bridgestone's are good in the wet and I did 18-laps in the rain and found a front tyre I really liked it gave me a good feeling with the wet track," he said.

Elias' team-mate Marco Melandri missed the test due to recent arm surgery.