Lorenzo saves engine on 'useless day'
With conditions ill-suited to either slick or wet tyres the Factory Yamaha star - like title rival Dani Pedrosa (Honda) - remained in the pits throughout.
The only positive for Lorenzo was that he saved some energy and avoided further engine mileage.
Only six engines are allowed for the season and Lorenzo lost a nearly new engine when he was taken out by Alvaro Bautista at Assen.
“I'm so tired, we did so many laps today and now I need a big rest and a massage!” joked Lorenzo.
“Seriously though, we didn't even go out, it just wasn't necessary for us, we wanted to save the engine life and also save some energy.
“Tomorrow we will see what happens with the weather. Today was not completely wet or completely dry so useless.”
Lorenzo spent much of the afternoon session chatting in the pits with 15 time world champion winner Giacomo Agostini and Yamaha's first ever world title holder Phil Read.
Lorenzo holds a 13-point lead over Pedrosa with six rounds remaining.
The Spaniard's team-mate Ben Spies did take to the track briefly, with the team's new 'Race-Blu' livery, completing just six laps in the morning session and four in the afternoon.
The Texan's efforts were simply to test the track conditions as no valuable data could be gained for Sunday's race which is forecast for sunshine.
“We didn't really get anything from the few laps we did, it's been pretty much a waste of a day for everybody," confirmed Spies.
"We can't control the weather and unfortunately it was just too mixed conditions to do anything. We did a couple of laps to check everything was ok just in case qualifying is like that so we have a feeling for it.
"Other than that we just sat around, drank coffee and watched everybody!"
Only 13 of the 21 riders recorded a Friday lap time, the majority of whom were privateer CRT riders.
