Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow finished today's final day of MotoGP testing at Jerez in fifth place and fastest privateer, saying that he feels far better prepared for the upcoming season than he did this time last year.

The Coventry man was fast and consistent all day, focussing on electronic setup and how if affects the wear of the 2012-spec Bridgestone tyres. He is pleased the new M1 works at different types of track including the go-kart sort of which Jerez is an example.

“I'm really happy to finish this test in the top five with a very fast pace because we worked through a lot. Today I only used three sets of tyres in 83 laps, yet I was fast and consistent all day, so it shows we are getting good endurance from the soft and the hard options. The different electronic set-up also helped in acceleration, so it was a very positive and productive day after the rain washed out yesterday," said Crutchlow.

"The good thing is we know the bike works very well on a completely different track. The tests in Sepang were crucial but we needed to come to a completely different circuit like Jerez to understand if the bike has a good base level for a tighter and shorter track. Yamaha has done a great job because the YZR-M1 works very well. Finishing behind Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Spies is obviously good for my confidence and now I'm looking forward to going to Qatar and racing. I feel ready and much better prepared than last year.”