Lorenzo “surprised” at lack of pace on first Sepang test day

The Spaniard ended up 17th fastest on Monday, a full 1.669s off the best time set by Ducati tester Casey Stoner, who topped the timesheets ahead of Lorenzo’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso.

Aspar Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista made it three Ducatis in the top four, with Lorenzo the slowest representative of the Italian marque with the exception of Avintia’s Loris Baz.

The three-time MotoGP champion admitted he still had work to do modifying his riding style to suit the latest version of the Desmosedici, after enjoying a smooth maiden Ducati outing at Valencia last year.

"In Valencia everything was easier, because I rode more or less the way that I've ridden for the past nine years and the times were there," said Lorenzo.

"Here, however, riding the same way it was much harder to go quick, so I'm understanding that it's a bike that requires a pretty different riding style than what I'm used to.

"I set my time with a used tyre and when it was too hot, so I think I could have improved a few tenths. But there's a long way to go, especially under braking.

"I'm used to braking a lot earlier and I'm losing a lot under braking. This bike is basically ridden the opposite way, so until I learn how to extract the best from the bike it will be hard to be among the quickest."

Asked if he was disappointed by his performance, Lorenzo replied: “Not disappointed, but surprised, because I expected I’d be more or less the same as Valencia, not very far. But I was very, very far.

“What gives me confidence is we made a huge improvement during the day, and also to see three or four Ducatis at the top. This demonstrates the bike has the potential to go very quick, at least for one lap.

"Little by little we are getting closer and tomorrow we'll be closer if the weather allows it."

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont