Monster Yamaha’s Bradley Smith spent the first day of MotoGP testing at Sepang using the factory seamless-shift gearbox which he will use for the rest of the season.

The Oxfordshire rider is pleased with the new technology - denied to former team-mate Cal Crutchlow - and will share it with Pol Espargaro, who outpaced him today by seven-tenths of a second on a very dirty circuit.

“Today was the first day of using the seamless-shift gearbox. I am really thankful for Yamaha, because it was really beneficial for us. It is a very nice system to use, and I think the biggest advantage of the gearbox with be on old tyres in the second half of the race,” said Smith.

“We have continued working on ideas from the first test, and have found a great front setting which will probably be our base setting for the season. We still need to work a little more with the electronics, and the rear grip. The Bridgestone tyres seem to be better than last time, even though the track conditions were not so great.

“We also changed the geometry of the bike which consistently works better with the tyres. Tech3 are doing a brilliant job, and I am pleased with the results. I think the track conditions will improve and on day 3 we’ll try a race simulation.”