MotoGP rookie Mika Kallio has hit out at the reduced mileage available this year and says the lack of practice time is holding him back.
The Finn has impressed the paddock this year with some very strong performances on the Pramac Ducati, including two eighth places that have put him 12th in the championship -- the best newcomer -- so far.
But Kallio said he could be doing far better if practice had not been reduced from three to two sessions at grands prix weekends and testing dramatically cut back to save costs.
"It's not fair this way," said Kallio. "In the first day of work at every race we start too behind compared to the riders that have already ridden in MotoGP on that track the year before.
"If we would have two hours at our disposal, like last season, things would be different, but we must take it the way it is. It seems simple but it's not easy to find the best lines to follow at each track."
He said today's practice results, which saw him in 13th position, was typical of his frustration.
"I don't want to be polemical but I wanted to make it clear: our potential, as we demonstrated on other occasions, is much better than the 13th place," said Kallio. "Anyway compared to other first days of free practice things have got better and this gives us a lot of trust. In addition I missed the possibility of another lap by a couple of seconds otherwise I am convinced that we could have improved our best lap time."