The three-time champion has endured a tough start to his career with the Italian manufacturer, ending up 11th on his first race for his new team in Qatar and qualifying 16th in Argentina after failing to make it out of a wet Q1.

But Lorenzo was upbeat after the session despite his lowly grid slot, as he felt he had made a breakthrough earlier on Saturday with a new seating position.

He said the change revealed a “mistake” he made during his first time on the Ducati at Valencia last November that ultimately led to the team wasting valuable pre-season testing time.

“We found something important today, some modifications we made on the ergonomics of the bike, especially in the seat of the bike,” Lorenzo said.

“When I first rode the bike in Valencia, I felt the bike was quite high compared to my previous bike, I wanted it a bit lower. This was probably a mistake.

“I think we chose the wrong way and we missed a lot of months [of testing], thrown away.

“Now this position and some modifications we are going to do in future, we are going to get again the front weight and improve the feeling, at least to stay closer to the other riders.”

After struggling to maintain his race pace in Qatar, Lorenzo said the changes should ensure he gets less tired during the Argentina race, which will allow him to maintain a stronger pace throughout the latter half of the event.

“This weekend I was able to make much more laps in a row, [it was] much less physical and [I had] more confidence,” added the Spaniard.

“I will be better when I continue with this ergonomy of the bike, I won’t go out of the bike like I used to do, I will get less tired and my pace will be more constant.

“For sure in the race we will have a better second part of the race than Qatar."

Dovizioso "very disappointed" with Q1 exit

Lorenzo’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso likewise failed to make it out of Q1, and will start Sunday’s race from 13th on the grid.

He said the fact the track had dried out while he was on a soft-compound rear tyre hampered his chances of making it out of the first segment, after he had led the early stages.

“The second run I had a soft that didn’t work, it was too soft, the water was very low so the movement was too much,” explained the Italian rider. “That is the reason why I couldn’t go into Q2.

“I’m very disappointed about that, because on this track it’s very important to start in the first two rows. To overtake riders is not so easy, and we don’t have a special speed. To start 13th is really bad.

“But we have, I hope, the warm-up in the dry to try to improve a little bit the speed, because we are not too far to try to fight for third, fourth position.”

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont