Lorenzo 'very happy' as MotoGP testing concludes

Jorge Lorenzo may have been pipped to the top spot during the closing minutes of the final pre-season MotoGP test at Jerez, but the Factory Yamaha star left the track 'very happy' with his new 1000cc M1.

Lorenzo spent almost the entire day as the only rider to drop under the 1m 39s mark, with Honda's reigning champion Casey Stoner finally edging 0.173sec ahead on his very final lap.

As well as his single-lap pace, 2010 champion and last year's runner-up Lorenzo also delivered an impressive race simulation, over a full 27 laps. All but one of Lorenzo's flying laps was in the 1m 40s range - the other was a 1m 39.9s, set on his 25th lap! See below for the full list.

“I'm really happy because we tried to make some good lap times so we put new tyres on the rear this morning to make the 1m 38.9s which is a good time. This afternoon we improved the bike for a race simulation which went really well,” said Lorenzo.

Adding to Lorenzo's optimism for the first 1000cc season is that all four Yamaha riders finished in the top seven.

“In general we are very happy, it's not just me, Ben is also very close to the competition as are Cal and Andrea, he said. “We need to improve our braking a little, if we can do that we could gain some more tenths of a second.”

Opening practice for the Qatar night race takes place on the evening of April 5.

Lorenzo's Jerez test race simulation:

1. 1:51.480
2. 1:40.485
3. 1:40.035
4. 1:40.345
5. 1:40.336
6. 1:40.252
7. 1:40.302
8. 1:40.331
9. 1:40.438
10. 1:40.222
11. 1:40.127
12. 1:40.316
13. 1:40.374
14. 1:40.547
15. 1:40.612
16. 1:40.317
17. 1:40.272
18. 1:40.269
19. 1:40.430
20. 1:40.251
21. 1:40.271
22. 1:40.465
23. 1:40.118
24. 1:40.165
25. 1:39.952
26. 1:40.794
27. 1:40.046

Average (26 flying laps): 1m 40.310s