Rossi sings in the rain.

Rain at Jerez for the 2004 Spanish Grand Prix saw Valentino Rossi fighting to save his high-siding Yamaha (top pic) - but the Italian is confident there will be no repeat of such lurid bike behaviour after declaring himself 'very happy' with the wet weather ability of the latest generation YZR-M1.

Rossi and Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards gave the 2005 spec machine its rain debut during a morning of wet weather at Jerez, before the weather cleared and the track dried enough for a return to slicks late in the afternoon.

The Italian completed 42 laps in total, setting his best on the 39th in a time of 1min 42.710secs - half a second slower than yesterday but enough to place him seventh on the end of day timesheets, 0.6secs from pace setter Shinya Nakano.

"I was really pleased to get the chance to try the bike in the wet and I was very happy with the level we were at in the rain," confirmed Valentino. "The afternoon was drier but we were not quite as good as yesterday; we tried out a different rear tyre, but it didn't really help. Still, it was important to try and I am glad because we've learnt something from testing it.

"As a result, we were slower this afternoon but still not bad, and I was more or less happy. I hope that tomorrow it will be dry so we can go back to the settings we had yesterday and make the final alterations we need before we come back here for the first race in two weeks time," he added.

"We've known since we got here that there was a risk of rain today and so we were prepared for it this morning," revealed Rossi's crew chief Jerry Burgess. "Unfortunately it didn't rain for long enough to do everything that we wanted, but we were more than happy with the performance of the bike and rider in those conditions. The package worked okay and there certainly weren't any big issues."

Meanwhile Edwards, who posted a time of 1min 42.018secs during yesterday's session, recorded a best time today of 1min 43.095secs on the 55th of 57 laps - putting the American ninth on the timesheets.

"I was really happy with the bike in the rain, and I think we were about 90% right with it," he explained. "All the electrical aspects and the settings were good. The track was a little bit slippery this afternoon after the sun came out, but in some ways that was good because it exaggerated some of the small problems we still have.

"Now we know what we need to do about them tomorrow and, hopefully, how to fix them. The most important thing for us tomorrow is to find more traction," Colin concluded.

Jerez MotoGP test times - Saturday:

1.Shinya NakanoJPN Fuchs Kawasaki1min 42.112 secs
2.Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda 1min 42.139 secs
3.Sete Gibernau SPA Team Movistar Honda 1min 42.218 secs
4.John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki MotoGP1min 42.359 secs
5.Marco MelandriITA Team Movistar Honda 1min 42.573 secs
6.Alex HofmannGER Fuchs Kawasaki1min 42.699 secs
7.Valentino RossiITA Gauloises Yamaha 1min 42.71 secs
8.Kenny RobertsUSA Team Suzuki MotoGP1min 43.083 secs
9.Colin Edwards USA Gauloises Yamaha 1min 43.095 secs
10.Troy Bayliss AUS Camel Honda 1min 43.13 secs
11.Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 1min 43.328 secs
12.Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda 1min 43.559 secs
13.Ruben Xaus SPA Fortuna Yamaha 1min 43.756 secs
14.Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Yamaha 1min 43.813 secs
15.Vittoriano Guareschi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1min 44.357 secs
16.Nobuatsu AokiJPN Team Suzuki MotoGP1min 44.885 secs
17. Roberto Rolfo ITA D'Antin Ducati 1min 45.087 secs
18.Loris CapirossiITA Ducati Marlboro 1min 46.198 secs
19.Shane ByrneGBR Team KR-KTM1min 46.467 secs
20.Franco BattainiITA Blata WCM1min 47.41 secs
21.Makoto TamadaJPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 56.617 secs
22.James EllisonGBR Blata WCM1min 58.494 secs

Comparative lap times:

Jerez MotoGP test - Friday:Fastest lap: John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki MotoGP1min 40.893 secs

Spanish Grand Prix - 02/5/2004:Pole position: Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha 1min 40.818secs Fastest lap: Sete Gibernau SPA Camel Honda 1min 53.508secs (wet)