Lorenzo confident after practice

The Spaniard posted an impressive sequence of laps in the 1m56s bracket and posted the fastest time of the day - a 1m56.595s lap - more than 0.4secs faster than his FIAT Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.

"It's a great thing to start the weekend in such a strong way and I've had a good sensation and feeling with my bike from the first moment today," said the 22-year-old who currently lies 25 points behind Rossi in the points race.

"This isn't usually the case so I'm really happy! I like this track a lot; I've had three wins here in the past and I always feel confident riding here."

Lorenzo also believes there is more to come from his M1 after dominating for 45 minutes of the hour long Friday practice session: "We need to work a little to improve the feeling with the front tyre on the entry to the corner and also we have a bit of work to do for the anti-wheelie, but I think we're in very good shape.

"I am happy to be back on my bike and to be back to full fitness, but we must keep focused and keep improving," he added.