Jorge Lorenzo spent the final day of the second MotoGP test comparing last year's Ducati with the 2018 version after a difficult weekend in Thailand.
The Spaniard topped the first test of the year in Malaysia with an unofficial lap record of the Sepang International Circuit, and declared the new Desmosedici as better suited to his riding style.
At Buriram, Lorenzo finished the opening two days in 10th spot and was struggling to find the same form on the GP18 as he did at Sepang. To make matters worse, damage to one of his chassis meant he only had one '18 bike to use come Sunday.
In a bid to try and confirm his issues, Ducati took the GP17 belonging to Pramac's Danilo Petrucci to allow Lorenzo to compare both bikes.
“In Sepang we felt much better,” said Lorenzo, who ended Sunday 22nd on the timesheets.
“But during these three days I didn't feel very comfortable. Today I didn't push to make a laptime, today it was set during a race simulation.
“I was reconfirming the old bike compared to the new bike. As I said in Sepang, I think each bike has some good and some bad points.
“It's difficult to make a mix for the Qatar race, but today we saw, even if the new bike isn't a lot better, it has more potential because there's more room for evolution during the year.
“Let's see what the engineers do, and I think we also still ned to work on the setting of the new bike, especially with the front tyre, which I didn't feel well here.”
While confusion reigned in Lorenzo's box, team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, while not putting in a headline time, feels the Thailand test has “confirmed the GP18 is a very competitive bike.”
The Italian, who was seventh and 0.411s from pacesetter Dani Pedrosa, said: “These were three very useful days, in which we were able to do a lot of work and test the fairings, the frame and the other new materials that Ducati brought to Thailand.
“It wasn't an easy job because it was really hot out there and this track is a bit unusual, but we gathered lots of useful information and confirmed that the GP18 is a very competitive bike.
“To get a better idea of the form of our rivals, we also have to see what tyre they their times with, but in my opinion here at Buriram we are in good shape, just like in Malaysia.”
