Both Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden are struggling to make the hard-compound Bridgestone tyres work for them at Malaysia's Sepang circuit, with the Spaniard saying he doesn't have the confidence to ride fast.
Lorenzo reckons that he doesn't feel right on the bike but has to make some changes as both Fiat Yamaha team-mate and Tech3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards are both quicker.
"I need to use the hours we have and the available tyres in the best way possible, but that's the same for everybody! My main problems at the moment are the braking and the corner speed," said Lorenzo.
"Right now I don’t feel at one with the bike and this means I don’t have the confidence to ride fast. I know I can be faster than this because my bike isn’t much different to Valentino’s and he is quicker than me. Of course he was using Bridgestones last year as well and I am new to them, but Colin is also fast so this shows how competitive the bike is.
Today we didn’t find the solution, but we still have tomorrow left! The aim will be for me to try to adapt, and not to change too many things on the bike. If I can improve a bit, then maybe we will try a long run.”
Marlboro Ducati's Hayden, meanwhile, says he is struggling to get to grips with the new tyres as the more he rides the front tyre, the more unstable the rear becomes.
"I can’t push it on the harder compound tyre because it makes the rear move around so much more and the bike becomes unstable. At the end of the session we made a little change that improved the situation and I was able to get back onto my better lap times," said the American.
"The Bridgestones are really consistent and that makes our job a lot easier. Today I did 35 laps on the same front tyre without any problems! We know and I know that there is a lot of work to be done. Everything is still very new to me – the engine characteristics, the chassis and the tyres, as well as the way the team works together.
"Obviously it’s not easy to put all that together straight away. We’re working hard though and the improvements will come.”
