Lorenzo feeling more confident

The 21-year-old Yamaha rider finished fifth in the day's second practice session and, although he was only tenth this morning, he says he's able to ride much more aggressively than he was at Donington Park or Assen.

"I feel like I have a lot of confidence here compared to the last few races and this is a nice feeling because it's enabling me to ride much more aggressively," he said.

"This morning we had some problems with the rear grip, but I was happy about the improvements we made this afternoon. Even though I have a good feeling, the bike setting is still not perfect, though, and I feel like we should be going faster."

Although Lorenzo was just a tenth behind his Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, who was fourth this afternoon, but it concerned that the pair are more than a second off Casey Stoner's pace.

"The problem is that, even though I was in fifth place this afternoon, the gap to Stoner in front is very big," Lorenzo added. "It's hard for us to understand how he is going so much faster than us.

"But I just need to keep building my confidence and improving my riding and I hope that tomorrow we can close the gap to the front."