Dani Pedrosa will need to qualify for the Australian MotoGP the hard way, slipping outside the top 10 and into a repechage qualifying round.

One of three riders hoping to finish second in the championship behind Marc Marquez, Pedrosa has struggled to show competitive pace during two days of practice on the Phillip Island circuit.

His poor speed continued on Saturday morning, finishing 11th and well short of leader Jorge Lorenzo’s pace.

Qualifying for Sunday’s MotoGP race is split into two parts, with the top 10 riders from practice progressing to a top 12 shootout.

The rest of the field – including Pedrosa – must compete for the final two positions in the first stage of qualifying or fill the lesser places on the grid.

Lorenzo was fastest on Friday and improved again to lead the field with a 1:29.157 lap.

Marquez, who won the title with three races remaining last weekend in Japan, finished second with 1:29.454.

Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Italian Valentino Rossi are separated by just three points in a tight battle to finish second in the championship.

Rossi showed he cannot be discounted from Phillip Island calculations by finishing fourth with 1:29.435.

Pedrosa’s disappointing time of 1:29.976 was less than a tenth of a second outside Stefan Bradl in 10th.

Speeds are well down on last year, when Lorenzo set a lap record of 1:27.899.

The sole Australian in the MotoGP field, Broc Parkes, finished bottom of the timing charts with 1:32.366.

Qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix begins at 3:10pm.