Lorenzo gets a preview of 2011 M1

Jorge Lorenzo left the official MotoGP test at Brno satisfied with what he and his Fiat Yamaha team achieved, despite rain cutting short the day’s work in the Czech Republic.

The Championship leader tested a new engine upgrade and suspension setting on his factory M1 and set the fastest lap of the day with a 1’56.269 in the morning session, and then took a 2011 prototype of the bike out to gain an early impression.

“We tried a new engine which seems a little bit more powerful in general, and it has more acceleration. We also tried the possible bike for next year, the chassis, and it’s still a prototype so we don’t know clearly yet what is better or worse on it,” said Lorenzo, who completed 44 laps in total on both bikes.

"This was an important and interesting test for us, both for the rest of the season and looking towards next year. We had a lot to do but unfortunately the rain forced us to stop early. We got quite a lot of information though so hopefully it will help the engineers to improve things even more."

Lorenzo also gave his reaction to the news of team-mate and rival Valentino Rossi’s departure at the end of the campaign, as well as the prospect of being joined by Ben Spies after Lin Jarvis outlined the Yamaha factory team plans for next season.

“It’s big news and will be very interesting for next year,” said Lorenzo of Rossi’s switch to Ducati, before adding: “Ben seems like a good guy and very competitive so for sure it gives more motivation for next year.”