Honda's Jorge Lorenzo says he 'won something' in MotoGP French Grand practice, after a change in seat allowed him to end Friday fourth fastest.
Lorenzo admitted on Thursday he still needs more time to adapt to the RC213V, following a tough start to his Honda career, but found something in the post-race Jerez test which yielded a slight breakthrough in his weak area of cornering performance.
Finishing FP1 in 14th after a crash at the start of the session, Lorenzo briefly led the times in the afternoon session, before being relegated to fourth at the chequered flag.
Lorenzo revealed the change he made at Jerez was to the seat unit, reverting from a set-up he used at Yamaha and Ducati, which he claims wasn't working on the Honda.
“Something we tried gave me a benefit in terms of comfort and safety at the edge of the corner,” Lorenzo said on Friday at Le Mans.
“Every small, medium and big step for me is like a victory and today I win something.
“Hopefully we can keep this level. Tomorrow it looks like it'll be wet, but in the next dry session I will try more things to make that next step.”
He added: “This type of seat comes from my time at Yamaha, and I kept it at Ducati and I bring it to Honda.
“But it looks like with this bike, for the moment, it isn't working. It's a better solution [to use] a standard Honda seat.”
Lorenzo says the biggest problem with the Honda currently is its “sensitive” front end, which is robbing him of confidence.
“It's a bike where the front is sensitive,” he explained. “You need to understand all the tricks and all the ways to ride it well.
“Obviously, I'm having crashes, and probably it's not the strongest point of the bike. The confidence it gives you on the front when you enter the corner is not the best, but it's the way it is.
“We have very strong points, like the entry into the corner, the turning in some corners, and now we have a strong engine.”
Lorenzo admits it was “tough mentally” to find the motivation after his FP1 tumble to continue, but “somehow” found it.
“It was tough this morning. To crash and to finish 14th was very tough mentally to get the motivation and to be positive.
“But finally, some way, somehow, I could get on the bike motivated and positive."
