Aspar Ducati’s Eugene Laverty suffered a couple of niggling problems with his GP14.2 which conspired to stall his progress in yesterday’s MotoGP free practice sessions at Losail but he will throw in a fresh tyre for today’s final session ahead of qualifying and try a race run.

The Monegasque had to contend with engine, electronic and tyre problems in the desert but says he is getting back his feel and comfort, and hopes to make a step in terms of setup.

“We had some incidents in the sessions today. The first was a mechanical problem, then we had an electronics issue with the second bike when we went out on that. We fixed that, then had a faulty front tyre to deal with afterwards. It was one of those nights; I maybe should have stayed in bed for a few more hours,” said Laverty.

“I'd been suffering problems in winter testing when trying to make the bike turn in, which had lowered my confidence a little, and now I know why the bike wasn't responding how I wanted; Yesterday was almost like the start of preseason again, but there is reason for optimism because now I understand what I was lacking. With the different engine we've had to go back to the drawing board. I feel as if we are still testing, we're struggling; obviously I'm a rider and I want to push all the time, but we decided to keep a fresh tyre for tomorrow in FP4 and see how the bike is for a longer run.”