HomeNewsMotoGP Rossi and Lorenzo deliver a 1-2 punch on day one
Rossi and Lorenzo deliver a 1-2 punch on day one
Posted by Staff
Friday, 03 July 2009
Event: US Grand Prix - Free Practice Date: 3rd July 2009 Ambient temperature: 24 degrees Track temperature: 48 degrees Humidity: 41%
FIAT YAMAHA LAUNCH AMERICAN CHALLENGE WITH A ONE-TWO ON DAY ONE
The
first of two American races this season got underway for MotoGP at
Laguna Seca today with a strong showing from the Fiat Yamaha Team
pairing of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, who finished first and
second respectively. The spectacular Californian track was bathed in
sunshine throughout the day and the riders took full advantage to begin
refining their set-ups to suit the tricky nature of the 3.601 km track.
Rossi
won in spectacular fashion here last year and he looked immediately
comfortable out on track, lapping consistently in the top three aboard
his M1 and Bridgestone tyres. Lorenzo meanwhile, who did not complete
the race here last year on his Laguna debut, proved lack of track
experience was no barrier to fast lap times and spent most of the
session in second before setting a brilliant lap with 11 minutes to go
and moving into first. He looked to have the practice sewn up until his
championship-leading team-mate sneaked ahead on his final lap,
bettering the Spaniard’s lap time by just one tenth of a second.
Position: 1st Time: 1'21.981 Laps: 32
“I
am happy with the session today, it was a good performance and at the
end, with the harder tyre, we did an especially good job and I was able
to make the best time. We got a lot of data about the track, which we
will use tomorrow in order to improve things further. We need to work a
bit to improve the front feeling because we can still make the bike a
bit easier to ride in one or two corners and then we will also look at
the electronics in order to control the wheelie, because there are a
lot of bumps and jumps on this circuit. Once again me, Lorenzo and
Stoner are very close so we can expect another big fight this weekend,
but we are confident that our M1 is working well.”
Position: 2nd Time: 1'22.093 Laps: 38
“I
was very fast today and I feel good here at this track in the
California sunshine! I know that this is a very complicated circuit to
get used to and that you have to make a lot of laps to learn it, but I
did have some time on it last year and I feel great here now. Today I
stopped after a few laps and changed the tyre to the harder Bridgestone
one and then I felt even better; I was having a lot of fun riding the
bike and I was able to do more or less race distance with consistent
lap times. We will work on further improving our setting tomorrow and I
hope that I can continue in the same way again.”
Team Manager
“Another
good start to a weekend! Valentino’s lap times are already good and
it’s certainly a much better first day than we had here last year! As
usual after this first practice there are one or two small areas that
we can improve so we will work tomorrow to fine tune everything
further. However we’ve made a strong start and our base is working well
so we are feeling confident.”
Crew Chief
“Unfortunately
our Team Manager Daniele Romagnoli can’t be with us this weekend as he
has had to return to Italy to be with his father, who is unwell. We
wish him our best at this time. As for today, Jorge made a good start
and our base setting is working very well here – we didn’t have to
change anything during the session. We tried both types of front and
rear tyres in order to compare and we already have quite a clear idea
for the race, so it just remains to confirm that tomorrow. We need to
work a little bit on the electronics now but overall we’re in good
shape.”
Combined Free Practice Times
1.
Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team
1'21.981
2.
Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team
1'22.093
3.
Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team
1'22.170
4.
Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda
1'22.637
5.
Toni Elias (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini
1'22.682
6.
Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda
1'22.880
7.
Marco Melandri (ITA) Hayate Racing Team
1'23.140
8.
Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
1'23.217
9.
Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3
1'23.285
10.
Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini
1'23.406
11.
Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP
1'23.439
12.
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
1'23.637
13.
James Toseland (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3
1'23.690
14.
Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team
1'23.747
15.
Sete Gibernau (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando
1'24.533
16.
Gabor Talmacsi (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP
1'24.926
17.
Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Pramac Racing
1'25.511
Laguna Seca: Record Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'21.488
Laguna Seca: Best Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'20.700
