Sachsenring MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo pledges faster pace

Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo believes he can improve his lap times at the Sachsenring after he ended the first day of free practice with the sixth fastest overall time.

Sixth in the last two races since his return from the concussion that ruled him out of the Catalunya GP last month, the 21-year-old posted a best time of 1.22.894 to finish just behind compatriot Dani Pedrosa.

The Fiat Yamaha rider believes his confidence is finally being restored after a crash-strewn period and he said: “I feel like I have a lot of confidence here compared to the last few races, and this is a nice feeling because it’s enabling me to ride much more aggressively. We had some problems with the rear grip this morning and I was happy about the improvements that we made this afternoon, but the bike setting is still not perfect and I feel like we should be going faster. The problem is that, although I was in fifth place this afternoon, the gap to Stoner in front is very big and it’s hard for us to understand how he is going so much faster than us! From this it is clear, even though I have a good feeling, that the bike is not performing exactly as it should and therefore we need to try to improve our package more. Of course I also need to keep building my confidence and improving my riding as I get more used to a MotoGP bike at this track. I hope that tomorrow we can close the gap to the front.”