Jorge Lorenzo branded today’s opening two practice sessions from Jerez as his best of the season, after finishing fourth fastest overall and top Ducati rider.
The Spaniard’s time aboard the Desmosedici has been nothing short of difficult, Lorenzo scoring a best finish of ninth from the first three races. However, a change to the seating position he used in last year’s Valencia test has allowed him to ride more comfortably and begin exploring more set-up options to improve pace.
A glimpse of this was seen in Austin when he qualified sixth, though he did fall back behind his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and the satellite Ducati of Danilo Petrucci.
After a decent start to proceedings in the wet FP1, Lorenzo was able to push from the off in the afternoon session and set decent lap times on both worn and fresh rubber.
“Probably today was my best practice session this season, especially because the sensations in the final run with the new tyre were very good.
“Every time I get on the Desmosedici the feeling gets better and better.”
“Today when I put new tyres on – I already felt better with old tyres – I could push quite a bit and make a good lap time,” he said.
“Little by little we are getting there, and especially compared to the rest of the Ducati riders we are better than before. It’s a good sign. I am more confident, that gives me the safety to push more almost everywhere.”
Having sat at the top of the pile briefly in FP2, Lorenzo was eventually shuffled down to fourth spot with his 1m40.291s. This put him almost nine tenths off the pace of session leader Dani Pedrosa, a gap Lorenzo admits still requires hard work to close.
He also revealed he is still struggling to get the Desmosedici to perform better in the middle of corners, but the altered seating position and heavier use of the rear brake is allowing him to enter turns better.
“Still we have some margin (to close to the leaders), obviously the result is very good and we are happy with the progression,” he added.
“Still, we have a lot of work to do in the future to make the bike turn more and also a bit less nervous.
“I enjoy it more when I am first or second, or making the best lap times. But in terms of riding, I am enjoying more because I am less tires, I am using more the rear brake, flowing more the entry to the corners.”
Team-mate Dovizioso also found turning the Ducati mid-corner difficult today and was eighth fastest with a 1m40.428s, though felt he could have been higher up in the standings had it not been for a mistake during his final flying lap.
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