Australia MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo bemoans slow start

Jorge Lorenzo came crashing back down to earth with a bump in Phillip Island today after the Spaniard could only finish opening practice in a lowly sixth place.

Fresh from his dominant victory in the recent Estoril GP that saw him slash Valentino Rossi’s world title lead to just 18-points, Lorenzo struggled badly in Australia this afternoon.

The 22-year-old could only clock a best lap of 1.32.077 to finish a massive 1.045s adrift of Rossi, who dominated the session to claim top spot.

Lorenzo struggled to find any confidence with the rear end of his factory Yamaha YZR-M1, and adding to his difficulties he tumbled out in the last five minutes when he lost the front-end at Turn Four.

Lorenzo, who reckons he needs to win at least two out of the final three races in 2009, said: “I just couldn’t go fast today. I wasn’t feeling too good – I think that I ate something last night that didn’t agree with me and I felt very weak, which made it very hard to ride the bike.

“We had some spin and not enough grip or confidence and there were two times where I nearly crashed before I actually did.

“Luckily I didn’t hurt myself at all and now I will just try to get a good night’s sleep and then hopefully I will be much better tomorrow.”