Times tumbled again at the latest Pirelli test in Losail, with a drop on the winds which had hampered the first two days being matched by an increase in ambient temperature.

The 5.380km Losail circuit still proved to be a tough challenge even on day three but nonetheless the times came down as the riders improved set-up and worked through more tyre options.

Troy Bayliss aboard the Xerox Ducati was once more on peerless form, setting a best of 1min 58.1secs, the best ever Superbike lap at the Losail circuit. He also did a long run of 16 laps at a high pace, only cut short when he ran out of petrol.

The last lap of the day put in by Max Biaggi on the Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki proved to be on a par with the impressive 1min 58.9secs set by Troy Corser who is riding for Yamaha Motor Italia. Biaggi had to work hard on his machine set-up to get the most out of the 2007 Suzuki, and his team-mate, Yukio Kagayama also toiled to get his times down, finally setting a best of 2mins 0.1secs, ninth fastest in the test.

James Toseland on the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda relied on his second day best of 1min 59.1secs to set the overall fourth best time, but a big jump from Regis Laconi on his PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse scored him a 1min 59.2secs, putting both rider and Kawasaki as a manufacturer into the top five, making it five different manufacturers in the top five places.

Lorenzo Lanzi, team-mate to Bayliss, set his best of test time of 1min 59.3secs today, keeping the margins close in the top few positions, and in the process outpacing PSG-1 Kawasaki rider Fonsi Nieto's Wednesday best time of 1min 59.5secs, to go sixth fastest. Noriyuki Haga team-mate to Corse did not enjoy the early part of the test but finally found a set-up and tyre combination to record a best 1min 59.7secs, going eighth overall. Robby Rolfo, Toseland's new team-mate, rounded out the ten Superbike entries with a time of 2min 1.7secs.

Both Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes on their Yamaha Motor Germany machines used all the testing time available to them to score impressive lap times of 2min 2.5secs and 2min 2.6secs respectively. Despite crashing out early from the final day of testing, Gianluca Nannelli on the SC Caracchi Ducati posted the third best time, a 2min 3.3secs. Fabien Foret on the GIL Motorsports Kawasaki was the fastest of the two Kawasaki riders on display, with a 2min 4.5secs. On the final day Pere Riba also on Gil Motorsports Kawasaki found pace compared to his previous laps and secured a 2min 5.2secs on his development machine.

The final pre-season Pirelli Development Test, in readiness for the 2007 season, takes place at Phillip Island, in Australia, between 13 and 15 January.

Testing times (21 December) - Losail:

Troy Bayliss Ducati 1min 58.1secs
Max Biaggi Suzuki 1min 58.9secs
Troy Corser Yamaha 1min 58.9secs
Regis Laconi Kawasaki 1min 59.2secs
Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati 1min 59.3secs
James Toseland Honda 1min 59.4secs
Noriyuki Haga Yamaha 1min 59.7secs
Yukio Kagayama Suzuki 2min 00.1secs
Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki 2min 00.5secs
Roberto Rolfo Honda 2min 01.7secs

all times unofficial, courtesy of WSBK