No matter how you lo🃏ok at it, a rider switching to last year's machine on the very last day of MotoGP pre-season testing is never a good thing.

But reigning champion Marc Marquez claimed a "great step" had been made after experimenting with a mix of new and old parts, including a hastily-p♌ainted 2019 RCV 'borrowed' from Takaaki Nakagami, on the final day in Qatar.

All of the 2020-spec Honda riders - Marquez, younger brother Alex and 𒅌Nakagam♎i's LCR team-mate Cal Crutchlow - have struggled with front-end feeling on the new bike.

The 2019 had been deemed harder to turn than the 2018, yet Marquez and Crutchlow felt that - despite HRC's efforts to improve the handling - t🦋he 2020 machine was even worse in some areas, most notably due to an uneasy 'pushing' sensation on corner entry.

W🥃ith the new racing season and deadline for engine homologation fast approaching, the radical mix of parts on the final day looked like a♓ desperate roll of the dice.

But it seems to have worked and, just like in 2016, Marquez was breathing a sigh of relief after the �𒁃�final night in Qatar.

"I'm very happy today. Honestly ye♚sterday and the first day🅺 I was quite worried, but today we did a great step," Marquez said. "We understood many things and we saw on the rhythm, the race pace, the lap time - everything was easier and less physically demanding.

"We worked a lot on my side of the box then Cal started to try some things we found and it looks like it was b💦etter also for him. I think we found a direction, so this is the most imඣportant thing because we were completely lost yesterday."

The #93 explained: "I was worried for two reasons, first of all because we were not fast enough and secondly because I was missing all the feeling with the bike and I d𒐪idn't understand why.

"💜I had a strange crash in Malaysia, a strange crash here and I didn't understand anything. But today we understand everythꦍing.

"Once more it's the last day in Qatar that we find the way! So a small smile. There's still a lot of work to do because the others have a good pace, but the🍃 last hour was really good."

So what exactly was the solution? At least part of the problem looks to have been the 2020-wings, with Marquez seeming to prefer the 2019 design. That would also explain why🔯 the 2020 bike suffered more at Losail, with its faster corners, than at Sepan⛄g.

"Now the bike is ܫready fo🍰r round one, but maybe Marc is still not 100%!" he smiled, referring to his healing shoulder.

Marquez was the top Honda rider in seventh but just 0.291s from leader Maverick Vinales (Yama♎ha) by the end of testing.

Nakagami was eighth, Crutchღlow 🌜18th (0.972s) and Alex Marquez 21st (1.661s).