Lorenzo: Heat will make race tough

The Spaniard is confident that he is fit enough to cope with the weather, but expects the event to be a test of endurance - and extremely close-fought.

"These conditions, with the heat very high, it's very tough for the riders to continue doing laps," said Lorenzo.

"But I have good pace, I do laps and I don't get tired - only now am I a little bit tired.

"For sure tomorrow will be a difficult race, and for sure Valentino [Rossi] has a good pace. He will be very, very competitive. [Casey] Stoner and maybe Dani [Pedrosa] will be there too."

Lorenzo grabbed pole from Rossi by just 0.013s with his last lap of the hour in the closing moments, and is now determined to capitalise in the race.

"I'm very happy because this is my first pole position on this track in MotoGP," he told Italia1.

"It was hard because we had a problem with traction control, which was working too much for the tyre we were using. Once we took some traction control away it went better in the last lap.

"What we need to do now is to take advantage of the situation. It's an incredible situation, and we are in very good shape, so we have to enjoy ourselves and go quick."

Last year Lorenzo had to miss this race after a violent practice accident. This season he has already taken two victories and is second in the championship, four points behind leader Stoner.