Yamaha not daunted by Honda's Austin pace

Marc Marquez put Honda on top on all three days of March running, with Lorenzo half a second and Rossi more than 1.1s in arrears.

Both riders admitted in the immediate aftermath that Yamaha had been outmatched on a track that plays to Honda's strengths.

With Lorenzo dominating the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix however, and with Rossi fighting back to second, both men insist they have not abandoned all hope of prevailing this weekend.

"Losail was just the first race of a long season. Now we have to change our mindset, we go to the USA and we visit a completely different track," Lorenzo said.

"I want to win at Austin and that's my mentality although I know in the USA it will be much more complicated.

"Austin track has a very long straight and several corners in first gear where you are need good acceleration and traction.

"There we will have to work really hard from the first session to cut away the distance to our competitors.

"I keep my confidence that we can also make a good result there."

Rossi, buoyed by only his fourth podium in the last two and a half years, said the team's Qatar performance provided some assurances despite Honda's pre-season form.

"Austin will not be an easy race but for sure the podium in Qatar is giving us extra motivation," he explained.

"We have done a great job there and we can go to Austin with some more certainty.

"Our competitors will be very strong but our goal will be to bring home points."