Jorge Lorenzo fears he is in even bigger trouble than he was in pre-season testing at Sepang after finishing an uncompetitive ninth in first practice for the Qatar Grand Prix. Lorenzo has struggled with the 2014 Bridgestone tyres all winter and with the Movistar Yamaha team not testing at Losail like the satellite and open teams, he sees himself at a bigger disadvantage.
“I’m a little disappointed because hearing the comments of the riders that were here two weeks ago it seemed the tyres were working really well. Having arrived here it seems the track is a little worse, the feeling of the rear tyre is more or less the same as in Sepang, with little grip and traction. We didn’t have three days to test here like the top five so our problems are bigger. We must hope that the tyre gets better and we can improve the grip on the rear.”
Teammate Valentino Rossi is less concerned, saying he fully expected the satellite and open teams to start strongly after their test here, and is also confident that he will move forward from seventh as track conditions improve.
“The track is in quite a bad condition but I think it’s quite normal for a first practice. There is a lot of sand and not a lot of rubber down. Also a lot of riders except the factory riders have been here for three days and have done a lot more km and a lot more laps so it’s normal they are stronger than us. Now the work for the weekend will be hard to reduce the gap. I have a lack of grip front and rear, on corner entry and also on acceleration the bike moves very much. I think the condition of the track is getting better and it will get easier.”
