LORENZO AND ROSSI GET ACQUAINTED WITH ARAGON ON WET AND DRY DAY

2010-09-17 22:49
Motorland Aragon played host to its first ever MotoGP practices today, with two 45-minutes sessions instead of the usual single one-hour session in order to give the riders a better chance to understand the new circuit. The two practices were run in very different conditions, with dry weather this morning giving way to steady rain this afternoon. Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished third and sixth in the overall combined standings.

In the dry this morning Lorenzo quickly found a good rhythm on the 5.077 km track, which boasts elevation changes and some spectacular corners and, despite lacking grip in some areas, he was third at the end and confident of improving in the afternoon. Unfortunately the rain meant a change of plan but his standard wet setting worked well and he led for most of the second half, only edged off the top spot by Casey Stoner in the last seconds.

Rossi confirmed yesterday that his leg is now in good shape but his damaged shoulder continues to plague him as he still lacks strength in it. He made a solid start this morning however, enjoying riding his M1 on this circuit and trying various different set-ups to find the best package for its different demands, finishing the morning in sixth. The rain this afternoon eased up the pressure on his shoulder somewhat and he finished the afternoon in fourth position, although he confirms he still prefers the track in the dry and is hoping to make more progress in better conditions tomorrow. The Italian is without his Team Manager Davide Brivio at this race as he is at home recovering from a back injury.

Lorenzo - Position: 3rd Time: 1'50.928 Laps: 34
"I really like this track, it's so fun to ride and it is quite different, a new challenge. It is interesting to ride the M1 here after coming here on an R1. We are lacking a bit of grip but I hope we can improve our setting more tomorrow so we can make another step. Unfortunately it rained this afternoon but it was good to get the chance to try our wet setting and it seems our bike was okay in these bad conditions. It was good to have two practice sessions today; even though the overall amount of time is the same over four days, four separate sessions makes it easier to get to know the circuit and what we need in order to be fast here."

Rossi - Position: 6th Time: 1'51.769 Laps: 35
"I'm very happy about having four sessions again here and especially today because we got to try the bike in the wet and in the dry. We gathered a lot of information; this morning in the dry I was sixth but this afternoon in the wet I was fourth and I was very pleased because it's a long time since I tried the bike in the rain. We need to improve our setting because we're not at the maximum but I am happy about this start. My leg is very good now but my shoulder is giving me some problems and we know we have to manage like this now until the end of the season. It's easier for the shoulder in the wet but I would still prefer it to be dry because this is a fun track to ride on."

Zeelenberg - Team Manager
"This is the first time in a while we've had two practices on a Friday and it seemed a bit strange to be riding on a Friday morning! Third in the dry this morning was okay, although we weren't completely happy with the grip and we need to improve this tomorrow. We used our standard rain set-up this afternoon and it was working well so we have no complaints about this. We hope it's dry tomorrow so we have the chance to keep working on our race package, because it looks like Sunday will be better weather."

Burgess - Crew Chief
"Valentino likes this track and we didn't make a bad start this morning. We worked on several different settings so we will put everything together tomorrow, weather permitting, to come up with something that works here. We had very different conditions today which was interesting and Valentino was actually very strong in the rain, so we were pleased with that."

Source: Fiat Yamaha Team

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story