The all-new machine's potential is currently being limited by its engine performance, prompting Pedrosa to skip the recent Sepang test while awaiting developments from HRC.
Those developments duly appeared on Tuesday and the 22-year-old, whose only previous appearance on the '08 was immediately after the Valencian season finale, was quickly up to speed at his home circuit.
Pedrosa concluded the opening day of the three-day test with the second fastest time - just 0.134secs behind world champion
Casey Stoner - and having lapped almost 0.7secs inside his fastest lap during the Spanish Grand Prix in March.
"We've been testing with the new bike exclusively today and we were looking to see if the issues we had at the first test in Valencia have been solved. The electronic engine settings which control the power delivery and the engine braking have been improved which makes the machine more rideable and quicker too," revealed the 2007
MotoGP World Championship runner-up. "The feeling from the chassis is quite good but I have to continue working on the settings to suit me.
"In Valencia the bike wasn't ready to complete a lot of laps but today we have been able to do many more," continued the Spaniard, who completed 60 laps. "There has been progress in some areas and in other areas we still have some work to do. We've tried some changes with the chassis today and we'll look for further improvements tomorrow. So far we haven't tested any new tyres and this is an important area to improve lap times, so I'm confident we can make further progress throughout this test."
Team-mate Hayden was back on board the RC212V just ten days after the Sepang test and he too was encouraged by the latest developments - although they provided no miracle cure. The 2006 World Champion completed 63 laps and finished the day with the fifth fastest time, half a second behind Pedrosa.
