Monster Yamaha's Bradley Smith took full advantage of his new factory parts to finish the third day of MotoGP testing at Valencia in second place on the timesheet, just three-tenths behind newly-crowned world champion Marc Marquez.

The Oxfordshire youngster was handed the new fuel tank and seat unit yesterday, although has been denied the seamless-shift gearbox, and managed to drop his fastest time to a 1'30.598. His qualifying time for the race was 1'31.201. His pace today would have put him third on the grid and six-tenths in front of old team-mate Cal Crutchlow.

"I didn't really expect that laptime. I knew when we put new rubber on I was hoping for a 1'30. I'm happy to get this package now as it is everything I have been searching for. We were able to unlock the bike at another level. The lap was a one off but it's nice to be able to do it and give ourselves a platform," said Smith, speaking at Valencia.

"We spent most of today trying to figure out the bike. Yesterday, I got given the new one and it was like 'learn that' and today was a bit more understanding what changes make what difference.

"We tried a few different things with springs and setup combinations to see whether it is similar to what I have been using and how much of a change you need to make to feel it. The bike feels very similar to last year in that aspect and it was a case of learning how to use the extra grip.

"I changed my line and changed my riding a little bit to maximise the performance. I knew I could carry more corner speed and not worry so much about picking up the bike and use the sidegrip more."