Jorge Lorenzo spluttered his way to his worst MotoGP performance of the season so far, finishing more than a minute behind Repsol Honda team-mate and winner Marc Marquez while admitted that Karel Abraham and Hafizh Syahrin had better pace all weekend.

The former champion 'struggled in every way' at Phillip Island, citing problems with grip and braking as the main concerns on a cold track.

“Well, I already expected before coming here that I would struggle a lot. Just you wish that things change, and that you are able to be fast, but that was not the case," said Lorenzo, speaking at the track.

"From the first practice, I saw that I was too far from the fastest riders, and the wind and the cold made the situation worse.

“So I struggled in every way, physically, in terms of speed, and confidence. The result was the worst after the comeback in Assen, and this is the reality. I didn't have the pace. Syahrin had better pace than me all weekend, and Karel also.

From the first lap, from the warm up lap I felt the left side of the tyre with completely no grip, and even if I tried to pick up the bike or delay the full throttle opening as much as possible, the rear was spinning and spinning and spinning, and moving, I had no traction.

“Braking also was bad, a lot of vibration, so I wasn't fast in any part of the track. I hope and I guess, and I think that it is only this track, that is very bad for me in these conditions."

Lorenzo is hopeful that more normal conditions in Malaysia will help but only expects to be back to his level at Motegi.

“The next one in Sepang, I will come back more or less in the level I arrived here, and I finished in Japan. Hopefully keeping the same level that I had in the last ten laps of Motegi. I think Malaysia in normal conditions will be better, but we have to see.”