Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso believe they are in even better shape for the Aragon Grand Prix than the Friday lap times suggest.
Pedrosa led the way in the morning, with Dovizioso in second place at first before the Italian fell to eighth. In the wet afternoon session, Pedrosa dominated initially until a mechanical problem curtailed his running and left him only 13th on the time sheets. But Pedrosa was still positive about his pace in all conditions.
"This morning was very good, we did some laps in dry conditions and the bike was working quite well," he said. "I think we had a good first impression.
"In the afternoon, I was also at the top before I stopped. But then on the second run I had some electronic failure and I was just out and back in. So, therefore, I lost a lot of time when the track was getting drier. I just couldn't get out for the last laps. Half the practice I was in the pits."
Dovizioso reckoned he would have remained up front with Pedrosa in first practice had he run fresh tires.
"I'm really happy about the track and our start," said the Italian. "In the dry I think we are really, really fast. Unfortunately, this morning we didn't change the tire because normally in first practice you don't change because you need [the tire] in qualifying, especially as we have one more session. So we didn't change. But on the second run the tire was completely destroyed and I couldn't push, so I couldn't do a good lap time.
"But I'm sure if I'd put new tires on like everybody [else], I can fight with Dani on the lap times."
He was sixth in the afternoon, when he admitted Honda had initially gone in the wrong setup direction.
"In the wet, we didn't start very well because we wanted to try a different setup," Dovizioso explained. "When we have the possibility to swap the bike in the race, if you have a different setup in the dry and the wet it's a problem because you need to change the setup of the bike when you start.
"So we tried a similar setup to the dry, but it doesn't work so well, so we've changed the bike a little bit for the last run and the bike improved, but still not enough. But I think we also have a good chance to fight for a good position in the wet."