Jorge Lorenzo rues 'complicated' Dutch Grand Prix qualifying

The world champion was only 0.3 seconds off polesitter Marco Simoncelli's pace, but this was not enough to break into the top three.

"Today has been a complicated practice and qualifying," said the Yamaha rider. "We made many stops in the morning session and in the qualifying.

"The most important thing is we can see that our closest championship rivals are pretty close but I know we still need to make a step forward to be better. I have had problems in the fast corners today, I didn't have so much grip on the rear so we have work to do for tomorrow.

"I'm very confident the team will do a good job to be ready to fight for the podium for the 50th anniversary. Obviously the weather is not helping and we should be ready for both wet and dry conditions."

Team manager Wilco Zeelenberg admitted that the result and Lorenzo's handling issues were a concern.

"Not such an easy qualification, Jorge was complaining a lot about his feeling of safety on the bike in the faster sections of the track and also rear grip so we need to work on that for tomorrow," said Zeelenberg.

"Fourth position is not terrible but the worst we have been so far this year. Let's see what we are able to do tomorrow morning to improve the package; this is our focus now."