Power Aspar CRT MotoGP man Randy De Puniet finished as clearly the fastest man on day three of the private test at Jerez, getting his laptime down to a respectable 1'40.3 - almost a second quicker than team-mate Aleix Espargaro while Britain's James Ellison clocked a 1'42.526.

The Frenchman was a little over half a second off the lap record of 1'39.731 set by Dani Pedrosa and says there is still room for improvement in the Aprilia-chassied and powered bike.

PBM Aprilia's Ellison, meanwhile, did a total of 53 laps and matched Espargaro's time from the first day, not bad given the Spaniard has had a lot more track time than the Kendal resident. Ellison is also still getting used to the finicky Bridgestone tyres and hasn't yet installed carbon discs.

Jerez MotoGP CRT test day three - conditions dry

1. Randy De Puniet, ART 1'40.3 (66 laps)

2. Aleix Espargaró, ART 1’41.1 (60 laps)

3. Mattia Pasini, ART 1'41.29 (47 laps)

4. Danilo Petrucci, IODA 1'41.6 (62 laps)

5. James Ellison, ART 1'42.526 (53 laps)