Rossi crashes during latest Michelin test at Aragon

The French firm takes over from Bridgestone as MotoGP's official tyre supplier at the end of this season, with the Aragon test effectively serving as a replacement for July's washed out Brno test.

Championship leader Rossi was uninjured after his crash, which happened in the middle of the afternoon – his second off while testing for Michelin following June's Mugello test.

Danilo Petrucci and Bradley Smith also fell from their bikes during the first hour, while Rossi's Yamaha teammate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo, fresh from his sixth win of the season at Aragon, did not participate in the test.

Meanwhile, Honda was able to further hone its 2016 machine with both of its factory riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa on hand to evaluate the updated RC213V.

Defending Moto2 champion Esteve Rabat was also present aboard the Marc VDS Honda that he is set to ride next year in place of the Pramac Ducati-bound Scott Redding.

An announcement from the team, which is expected to also confirm the arrival of LCR Honda's Jack Miller, is due soon. Franco Morbidelli is poised to take Rabat's place in the Marc VDS Moto2 squad alongside Alex Marquez, younger brother of reigning MotoGP champion Marc.

"We brought stuff that we tested at Misano, so most of it we've already tested – only with one new option for the front, and a range of three different rear tyres," commented Michelin technical director Nicolas Goubert.

"We try to cover different conditions, and try to see what could be a good compromise between good performance and good consistency.

"The profiles now are more or less fixed I would say. So for the rear it's mainly compound. We're mainly trying different compounds to suit the conditions and suit the track layout.

"And for the front it was mainly two different compounds that we brought in different constructions, as we're still trying to improve the front, as we still have some issues and we have to continue improving."

The next opportunity for the MotoGP riders to accustom themselves to Michelin rubber will be in the post-season test session at Valencia.