Casey Stoner says an inability to get heat into the hard Bridgestone tyres has put him onto the back foot hꦕeading into the remainder of the Italian Grand Prix as he struggled to match the pace of his key rivals during Friday practi🌸ce.

The Australian began the day with a run to second position in FP1, but he was a considerable seven tenths back from Jorge Lorenzo, a margin he could onl𓄧y reduce by a further two tenths in FP2 as he slipped to sꩲixth place overall.

Struggling to find a set-up capable of getting heat into the hard tyres, Stoner admits he and Repsol Honda wil𒈔l have to try a different direcﷺtion on Saturday if they are to get on terms with Lorenzo and team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

"We haven't had a great day and aren't too impressed with our pace on tཧhe bike," he said. "This morning we began very far off the pa𝔉ce and slowly made our way forward.

"This afternoon we were trying to get ꧂the hard tyre to work, but every time we went out it didn't work so we came back in to try something different and then go back out but it was still the same.

"We can't💧 seem to get the same tyre temperatures that the others are getting at the moment, we're trying to find it through different set up🍸s, but we haven't found it just yet.

"We h🦩ave some thinking 𓆏to do tonight and will try to come back tomorrow with something different."

St🌃oner comple▨ted just three consecutive fast laps this afternoon, compared with eight for Pedrosa and 14 for Lorenzo.

Stoner trails Lorenzo by 20-points after falling last Sunday at the 🅷Sachsenring. German ꦚwinner Pedrosa is between them, 14 points from the top.