Jerez MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo chases big improvements

Jorge Lorenzo says he’ll need to make major improvements to his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 machine after he finished the opening day of MotoGP practice in Jerez down in fifth position.

The Spaniard, who claimed a famous win in Jerez last season, logged a best time of 1.40.420 to finish a massive 0.869s off Casey Stoner’s impressive pace on the new Honda RC212V.

Lorenzo, who kicked off the defence of his world crown in Qatar last month with a dogged ride to second behind a dominant Stoner, said he was having too many issues in windy conditions today to think about a victory challenge on Sunday.

Lorenzo, who won nine times in a stunning 2010 campaign, said: “At this time I have a lot of problems with traction. I have a lot of spinning on the rear and mainly the front I don’t feel very comfortable in the corners. I feel like the front is closing too much in almost every corner.

“The only thing we can do in this moment is work on the set-up to avoid the bad feeling on the front when it is closing. My goal is to improve the setting of the bike now and to keep motivated throughout the weekend even when it is a tough situation.”