Jorge Lorenzo buoyed by 'excellent' start to Mugello's MotoGP race

After being taken out at the first corner in the Dutch TT, Lorenzo was then unable to match the works Hondas at the Sachsenring - even if he was able to extend his championship lead due to Casey Stoner's last-lap crash.

Yamaha however has started the stronger of the two MotoGP giants at Mugello, with Lorenzo - victorious at the circuit in 2011 - setting the pace in the opening two practice sessions.

"I'm really happy because from the beginning we've been quite fast. We haven't had to make many changes to the bike, the feeling is great with the track and it's working well," he said.

"I feel good with the suspension, throttle and braking. Everything seems quite clear, we have to work on some small details but we've made an excellent beginning."

Team-mate Ben Spies, who finished just over four tenths of a second down on Lorenzo, said only fine adjustments were needed to close the gap.

"It wasn't a bad day, nice and hot. The first session was OK, then the second session we tried a couple of different bike settings and wasted a bit of the time finding something that didn't work," he reported.

"We went back to the setting we know that works and had it going pretty well by the time the tyres were pretty used. I'm happy we were doing the times we were with race distance on the tyres and we know we can make the bike better for tomorrow.

"We need to be a bit closer to the front but the bike's working well so we just need to make some fine adjustments."