Jorge Lorenzo admits he will carry on running the standard MotoGP fairing on his Ducati in Qatar, after suffering during cornering with the aerodynamic one in testing.
Lorenzo – who starts his second season with Ducati – used the Italian marque's radical aero package to great effect when it was introduced in the middle of last season, the Spaniard finding it to give him the confidence he had been lacking in the front-end.
However, Lorenzo found the updated version of the aero package was giving him “problem in the corner” during the Qatar test, and spent Friday's two practice sessions running without it.
The Ducati rider ended the day fourth overall, and felt his race pace has improved since the test, while also admitting he has more in reserve on one-lap speed having not fitted a fresh front slick at the end of FP2.
“I'm quite happy about today, because we improved the pace and with the soft tyre it was one of the best,” he said.
“In the end, we missed the chance to make one fast lap because we didn't put a new tyre on the front like some, so we have this card to play tomorrow.
“I'm more satisfied than in the test for sure. For now, with this bike, it looks like ths fairing with winglets gives me more problems in the corners.
“So I prefer to not use it. So, for now, I will continue to use the normal one.”
Teammate Andrea Dovizioso topped both sessions on Friday – his best effort a 1:54.361s – and feels he has “confirmed” Ducati's strong form from the Qatar test.
“It's really good, and we've confirmed the good feeling from the test, which I'm really happy about,” said Dovizioso.
“Of course, we had to adapt to the temperature and it's much hotter. Fortunately, the bike worked well in these temperatures and now we have to work on the details for the race.
“The speed is there, but we need to manage the tyre in the best way; it's the key to manage it for 22 laps.
“The tyre worked well, like in the test. I'm not too worried, but in every race you have to work on the details, as there are a lot of riders with good pace.
“You can't know, though, until you're in the race: today I was lucky because I was behind Valentino [Rossi], and I was able to confirm how to ride for the race, not thinking of the overall laptime.
“There are always the same good riders working well in practice to be fast in the race.”
Discussion about this post