Monster Yamaha's James Toseland has said he reckons his confidence is finally returning to him following a relatively successful opening day at the Jerez MotoGP test.

The former World Superbike Champion topped the timesheets during the early part of today's free practice session and although he slipped down the order to 1th, he was within 1.5-seconds of pacesetter Jorge Lorenzo.

“I felt much better today and the old confidence was coming back. I was back in the top ten for most of the day and I’m back within a second of the guys running at the front," said Toseland.

That’s encouraging because I’ve been much further back than that in the previous tests after the big crash I had in Sepang. It is nice to know that the competitive times are coming back again. I did over 80 laps today as well and that was the time on the bike I needed.

"The development rear tyre Bridgestone is really good and there’s a lot more I can get out of that, so that’s another positive from today. It was also good to be out riding the new Monster Yamaha Tech 3 colours. I’m sure we are going to have a good season together and the bike looks unbelievable.”