Riders faced many questions as practice for Sunday’s Argentine GP began, with rain forecast for the whole weekend, and the combination of a new tyre and a partially resurfaced track adding to the complication.

As Rossi said: “You never know what will happen from one track to the other – and part of the track has new asphalt.” He echoed general hopes that it would at least be less bumpy.

But the addition of a fourth tyre to the normal three-front/three-rear allocation, thought Marquez, would require good weather if it were not to complicate matters.

While Thursday was dry and blazing hot, the forecast was for rain through until Monday. It may be that the dry tyres will not be used at all.

Track, Argentinian MotoGP 2018

The 4.806 Termas de Rio Hondo track is already a hard taskmaster for the rubber, with high temperatures and fast corners added to an abrasive surface … in 2016 race direction was obliged to cut race distance and specify that all riders should use an extra-hard tyre after one of the then-new rear Michelins disintegrated in practice.

With tyre development frozen this year, Michelin was anxiously awaiting results from the first practices.

The second and extra front medium tyre has a different compound from its stablemate; the extra medium rear has a different construction. Only the rear hard is asymmetrical.

The resurfacing covers the final three very tight corners, and continues unbroken through the first four turns, leading on to the long back straight.

By Michael Scott