Lorenzo: Times not significant today

The Yamaha rider, second in the championship after two podiums in his first two MotoGP races, was only 12th quickest in the morning but finished in a stronger fifth place in the afternoon.

The conditions were far from ideal today, with the Portuguese track not drying up until the end of the day.

"Today's times are not very significant, because I only did one run," Lorenzo told reporters. "In these conditions I have never ran with the Yamaha here.

"But anyway, the rest of the riders are very fast, and both Valentino and Pedrosa are very strong. And I think Stoner will be quick tomorrow too."

Despite the limited running, Lorenzo was happy with his day's work and admitted he was surprised by his pace in the wet.

"The first day went very well. We had just an hour of practice," he said. "We had very limited running in the dry. In the wet it wasn't that bad. It was better than expected.

"It seems like Bridgestones are ahead of Michelin in these conditions but in the dry it went pretty well.

"There is still room for improvement because we are already far from the track record but I think we have improved the bike's electronics quite a bike and I'm very happy about that.

"At the moment we are doing pretty well, and I wasn't expecting it. I thought it would be harder."