Lorenzo says Iannone's Mugello MotoGP pace does not concern him

Iannone, who three-time MotoGP champion Lorenzo will replace at Ducati next year, led the way in Friday's second practice session at Mugello, after the first was affected by damp conditions.

In the closing moments, Iannone logged a time of 1m47.696s, 0.461 seconds clear of Lorenzo, but the Yamaha rider says the bulk of that is down to new-tyre gain - having stuck to older tyres himself - while also noting Ducati's circuit knowledge.

"[Mugello] is the test tack for Ducati. They have made a lot of kilometres and laps here; they know all of the secrets of this track," Lorenzo said.

"But the laptime from Iannone was with the new tyre.

"Some riders put the new tyres, one rider was Iannone, another was Rossi, and he improved by this five, six tenths that new tyre gives you.

"On pace, we are quite similar. I have some laps more in this [1m]48-low and [Marc] Marquez is also very close.

"We were able to make just 45 minutes [due to the morning's conditions], we were the fastest one on pace."

Factory Ducati riders Iannone, wildcard Michele Pirro and Andrea Dovizioso occupied the top three places on the speed traps in the second session, led by Iannone on 345.4km/h.

Lorenzo meanwhile was mid-pack, on 335.2km/h, and noted that advantage and Mugello's layout could lead to a repeat of the Qatar season opener, when he was passed by both Ducatis at the end of the first lap.

The Spaniard, though, spoke of Yamaha's overall strength when asked if he was afraid of Ducati's top speed.

"Afraid is not the word, but obviously I would like to have the same top speed as Ducati," he said.

"But we also have our own strong points, we have to take profit of it.

"I think our bike is quite constant; it's a nice bike to keep a constant pace on during the race [and] the race is very long.

"Obviously if we cannot make some distance in the last sector, in the last corner over Iannone or Dovizioso in the race, it's possible that we will lose the first position at the end of the straight.

"But the race is very long and the important thing is to have good pace when the tyres start to drop and I think we will have it on Sunday afternoon."