PBM Aprilia's Michael Laverty will concentrate on chassis setup during the first free practice sessions at Qatar's MotoGP opener next weekend after suffering at the hands of the weather at Jerez.

The nearly-Welshman says he has managed to get the Magneti Marelli spec-electronics up to a good standard, but needs to work more to get a better understanding of the GPMS chassis and how it works with the Ohlins suspension.

"All I needed was 1 full dry day but for the majority of the test the circuit was too dry for wets and too slippery for slicks. We don't have intermediate tyres in MotoGP but thats what the conditions in Jerez required; for 3 days," said Laverty.

"The final hour of the test was dry and that was the first time we adjusted the suspension and made a chassis change, so the reality is that I don't understand the chassis yet but we have managed to get the electronics to a good level in time for the first round.

"I had hoped to know better what our level is after the final Jerez test but that was a wash out. I want to be battling to win the CRT race, if I was on the ART bike I would say it confidently but as we still have work to do with the PBM bike just to reach the level of the ART bike in performance I am a little bit reluctant. We will get there with the PBM bike for sure but right now we are a little bit on the back foot for the season opener."

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