Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo reckons that a lack of grip, added to a bout of Delhi belly, was the reason he could only finish sixth in today's opening MotoGP free practice session at Phillip Island.

The Spaniard was a second slower than title rival Valentino Rossi and says he had two near-crashes before actually going down in a slow-speed spill, brought on by how weak he feels.

"I just couldn't go fast today. I wasn't feeling too good - I think that I ate something last night which didn't agree with me and I felt very weak, which made it very hard to ride the bike," said Lorenzo.

"We had some spin and not enough grip or confidence and there were two times where I nearly crashed before I actually did. Luckily I didn't hurt myself at all and now I will just try to get a good night's sleep and then hopefully I will be much better tomorrow."
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