American Edwards was quickest at the Losail circuit, with Rossi again second-fastest as the Yamaha team put its rivals in the shade.

America's defending champion Nicky Hayden was off the pace in 11th - but his Spanish team-mate at Repsol Honda, Dani Pedrosa, was third-quickest.

The British-based Ilmor team had only one rider on track, Australian Andrew Pitt coming in with the 20th-best time.

His team-mate, Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams, had to watch the day's testing from the pits after a fall.

Rossi is confident his team's pace has put it in a strong position against its rivals.

"So, another fast day for Yamaha - and I am happy that we're one and two again," he said. "Actually, today we ran into a few problems - which we need to work on."

"But anyway this is expected when you're getting faster and faster, and it's much better that we find the problems now than in the race."

"Again we need to work to improve the stability of the bike under braking, and this is a very delicate thing because we don't want to sacrifice the agility of our bike. We need to find the right balance."

"We're fast and we know we're at a good level. But we can't afford to relax because our rivals are getting closer, and I think it's going to be a very great battle this season."

Sportal