Nieto, currently second in the points behind only
Troy Bayliss, was the top GSX-R1000 rider in sixth, but just 0.659secs from the pace-setting qualifying-tyre time of
Karl Muggeridge.
"It's been a lot of hard work for all of us because we know that this has always been a difficult track for Suzuki," said Nieto of his home track. "Over these two days, we have tried many different things and worked on many different directions, but I am happy because we have found a good bike set-up for the race in early April. Our main job here was to get the bike ready for the race, so I didn't push hard at all. I know we could've gone faster for sure, but our goal was to do as much work as possible, get a lot of information and that's what we did, so I'm happy."
Neukirchner had been second fastest on day one, but slipped to seventh on day two - just 0.073secs from Nieto - after falling during a qualifying tyre run.
"I think we've done a lot of good work over the two days and we're in good shape for the start of practice here in a few weeks," declared the German. "We had some small problems in the beginning, but had much less problems at the end, so we know we made progress.
"The only time I put a qualifying tyre on the bike, I crashed!" he confirmed. "It happened on the first right-hander, so probably that side of the tyre wasn't up to temperature. But, if nothing else it has taught me something about what to expect when I do my Superpole lap!
"The crash took place at the end of the day and there wasn't enough time to put on another qualifier and go for a quick lap. I did a long run today and I was very happy about that because I started with a 1min 35.6s and was doing flat 1min 36s at the end."
Kagayama was making his return to action after being forced to miss the recent Phillip Island round due to a broken collarbone, sustained at the Qatar season-opener.
