Lorenzo: Jerez result reason to be "sad", "worried"

After a difficult start to life at Honda, Lorenzo had high hopes for the first race of the European leg of the season, but his second place in the opening practice session on Friday proved a false dawn.

The three-time champion finished the Jerez race in 12th place, beaten by all three of his fellow Honda MotoGP regulars as well as wildcard Stefan Bradl.

“I cannot be happy about my race, obviously,” Lorenzo said. “I cannot be enthusiastic. The only thing is to be sad, to be disappointed and to be worried.

“Obviously I am going to keep going, we have an important test [at Jerez post-race] with many things to test with the wish that some of them will give us some more speed.

“It is a difficult time for me but I will keep going positive and [that] is the only mentality that I can have.

“You can see my face, it is not a happy face - this has a reason, I don't like to make a race like today because I put everything on the track but I could not go faster.

“I don't like the position, I don't like the situation but I think I am a champion and champions keep fighting until they find a solution, and I will find a solution.”

Lorenzo had lost position at the start of the race, but doesn't believe having to ride in the middle of the pack early on made a big difference to the outcome of his Spanish GP.

The Honda rider, who is struggling with corner entry on his new RC213V, conceded that he was simply not quick enough at Jerez.

“If I would have started second row or first row, I would have more free track, probably in first three or four laps I would be faster,” he said.

“But the truth is that when I was alone in 14th position I had no pace, I did not feel comfortable on the bike and I was slow.

“If you are fast you recover positions but I could not do it because I was not competitive enough.”

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont