Jorge Lorenzo leaves this week’s Circuit of the Americas (COTA) test claiming that Repsol Honda Team still holds an advantage over his Yamaha Factory Racing squad.

Over the second half of last year, champion Lorenzo found it difficult to stay on terms with the Honda of title rival Dani Pedrosa, but had already amassed a significant points haul in the first part of the year. As Yamaha completed its COTA programme on Wednesday, Honda again headed the pack.

"We did a small simulation during which I was able to keep a constant pace," Lorenzo explained in an exclusive video interview with motogp.com. "We’re not completely satisfied because we’re still quite far off the Hondas on this track, but closer than we were yesterday.

"I think we’re losing a couple of tenths on the straights and they can also accelerate better and faster out of the slow corners. On this type of track – with these types of corners – it’s giving them a bit more confidence; we are more afraid of crashing, so we can’t enter corners with so much confidence."


Teammate Valentino Rossi also claims improvements must be made.

"I’m having some problems stopping the bike, so I’m not very good on the braking at the moment," explained the seven-time premier class winner. "If I brake where I want to brake, I arrive at the corner a bit too fast – especially at the hairpin. Also, we have a bit too much of a wheelie issue on acceleration from the hairpin, so that is the most important point on which we need to work."

With Yamaha having now packed up, Thursday sees Honda remain in Texas – Marc Márquez and Pedrosa on the Repsol bikes, with Stefan Bradl on the LCR Honda MotoGP machine – and still joined by CRT rider Blake Young.

.