Yamaha Austria were third this afternoon, on 1:42.946, with the No.111 Kawasaki fourth, Yamaha GMT94 fifth, LMS 72 Suzuki sixth, SERT No.2 seventh, National Motos Honda eighth, Yamaha Power No.68 ninth and Yamaha Phase One tenth.

Diablo Kawasaki were 21st and Alf's Kawasaki 40th. The Motors TV MV Agusta was 15th, the two BMWs were 34th and 52nd, the Metiss was 28th and the Benelli Tre was 46th, ahead of the Zone Rouge Ducati 1098.

Not only is the sun shining down on Magny Cours, but the forecast is for the good weather to continue over the weekend; a real contrast with last year's torrential rain. The biggest worry for the teams is the possibility of fog in the early hours of Sunday morning, but the riders should know which way the circuit goes by then…

The first qualifying sessions start at 16:30 CET / 15:30 BST this afternoon; follow them live on www.orion-timing.com