After struggling with sickness and a lack of f༒ront-end feel during the first two days of testing at Jerez, Aleix Espargaro lopped 1.5sec from his lap time during a promising final day.

The Power Electronics Aspar rider finished the test 0.8sec behind team-mateꦰ Randy de Puniet, but moved back ahead of Speed Master's Matti꧑a Pasini to be the second-best ART rider.

"The first day I was sick, yesterday was better, but a little off, then from this morning the feeling wa🎐s great," said Espargaro, returning to MotoGP after a season in Moto2.

"Today we worked a lot on the front, and succeeded in gaining confidence. We changed the forks and🍷 greatly improved our times. I didn't expect to improve so much.

"I'm leaving Jerez happy.🃏 The first two days were not very p🔯roductive, but we kept working hard and finally today we received our reward.

"The bike is working better than 💞[the previous test] in Valencia, and it is important to see that we are evolving gradually."

Espargaro also offered his condolences to fellow Spanish grand prix rider Esteve Rabat, following a family b♑ereavement.

"I want to send a giant hug to my fr𝔉iend Tito Rabat who is undergoing a tough time following the loss of his mother," said Aleix, older brother of 2012 Moto2 rider Pol.