Barros: We need top speed - like those Ducatis.

The final day of testing on European soil yesterday saw Gauloises Yamaha rider Alex Barros continue where he's been for most of the pre-season - on top of the times.

However, Ducati star Loris Capirossi was to mount a surprise attack and set a new Catalunya lap record during the one hour qualifying session.

Although less than two tenths of a second behind, the Brazilian was relegated further when Tohru Ukawa fitted a new engine and split the pair in the final laps. Sete Gibernau completed the top four with Valentino Rossi finishing the weekend fifth.

"I am very happy, overall, with our performance this weekend. Sure it would have been great to set the fastest lap of the day, but there are no prizes for that - except the car of course! - and we were here to test as many things as possible," began Barros. "We achieved that while consistently being one of the quickest, and that made it a good test for me.

"We still need to improve, you always do, and the one thing we need to work on now is top speed, especially when you consider how quick those Ducatis are in a straight line," added Alex, with reference to the new all time speed record set by Capirossi of 203.9mph.

Barros' team-mate Olivier Jacque finished the day twelfth, 1.6secs slower than the pace setting Italian.

"It was a difficult day today, although it was a bonus to have improved my time in the closing stages," said the Frenchman. "We've had so many things to try that I feel I might have lost track a little, but we still managed to achieve a lot.

"It is necessary to improve the grip on the rear in these cooler conditions, but I don't think this will be a problem in Japan. I'm looking forward to seeing the new circuit layout, especially as I never really liked that old chicane they've removed," added OJ, refering to the re-profiled 130R corner and the folllowing chicane at the Japanese Grand Prix circuit.