Gresini Honda's Alvaro Bautista is aiming to put a nightmare start to the 2014 MotoGP World Championship behind him at this weekend's Jerez round of the series in Spain.
Bautista has failed to finish any of the opening three races in Qatar, Texas and Argentina, crashing out in each to arrive at Jerez with zero points on the board.
However, the satellite Honda rider hopes the beginning of the European rounds on the calendar will signal a turnaround in his fortunes.
Bautista, who was seventh fastest during the first free practice sessions on Friday, said: “I'm trying to face this race without thinking about what happened in the first three Grands Prix; in some ways it's like my season is starting now, so I'm trying to stay focused, working together with my team, trying to get a good set-up for the race and having fun riding.
“This morning we were struggling with rear grip, so we made a change on the bike set-up before the afternoon session, but the track conditions then were worst and as a result it was difficult to improve the feeling. Tomorrow our work will focus on finding more rear grip.”