Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Spurt to Double Front Row in Sepang Qualifying2016-10-29 09:52Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo made another step forward today, getting more familiar with the resurfaced Sepang International Circuit in various conditions ahead of tomorrow‘s Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The teammates wrapped up qualifying in second and third place respectively, taking their sixth double front row start of the season. Rossi enjoyed the 15-minute qualifying heat today, despite the uncertain conditions on a wet track testing the rider skills to the limit. He was quick to exit pit lane and immediately put his head down to set a fast lap under a threatening sky. The Doctor set a first flying lap of 2‘13.135s to take provisional pole position before being pushed back to second. On his next laps he improved his time but not his place and found himself lying in fourth. As the last minutes counted down Rossi dug deep and delivered a scorching 2‘11.828s lap to take provisional third, before a final hot lap of 2'11.731s moved him ahead of his teammate into second, 0.246s from pole. Lorenzo shared a similar positive experience to his teammate. The Mallorcan was the first rider to head out on the damp track to lead the charge for pole position. His first lap, a 2‘13.746s briefly put him in first place before other riders clocked their first times and pushed him back to fifth. He improved to second place with a 2‘12.098s but was pushed back to third and although he set a new personal best lap on his third attempt, he remained in third place. As the lap times began to tumble with three minutes remaining Lorenzo immediately took second with a 2‘11.787s for second place. He tried to keep the pressure on, but overheated tyres held him back from attempting a perfect lap. His best time, however, was enough to take third on the grid, 0.302s from pole. The extended imagery from today's Qualifying session at the Sepang International Circuit is available on www.yamahamotogp.com Download MASSIMO MEREGALLI MASSIMO MEREGALLI TEAM DIRECTOR Today was a very positive day for us. Thanks to the dry session this morning and the wet session in the afternoon we have been able to test our settings for all conditions and the riders are quite satisfied, which showed during qualifying. Valentino and Jorge both did a very good job in an unusual qualifying session and it‘s great to see them both on the front row of the grid. We still have some work to do for tomorrow‘s warm-up because we still have some room to improve the bike in both the wet and the dry. The weather is very unpredictable and the weather forecasts predict all possible conditions, but we feel confident we can do a good job in all circumstances. VALENTINO ROSSI VALENTINO ROSSI It was a difficult session and completely different from normal. In qualifying you usually have two laps and after that another new tyre and another two laps. Today we had to start, try to not make any mistakes, put temperature into the tyres, but at the same time you have to push. Second place is very good. I feel comfortable, especially because we improved both the setting and the braking compared to the FP4. We have to work, but starting from the front row is very good. JORGE LORENZO JORGE LORENZO In Sepang, in the rain, I‘ve always been fast, so it doesn‘t surprise me that this weekend I would be competitive in the rain, because the grip of the track is very good. Maybe I pushed a bit too much in the beginning. On some laps I could have slowed down to cool down the tyres to attack on the last lap, but I didn‘t do this, I just kept running and at the end the tyre was too hot to improve the last three or four tenths. Anyway it‘s a good position, third place in the rain, and I‘m quite happy. LINKS & DOWNLOAD Session for MAL MotoGP Q2 (Courtesy by Dorna) Download Session for MAL MotoGP Q1 (Courtesy by Dorna) Download Nome gp STARTING GRID 29/10/2016 FRONT ROW 1. A. DOVIZIOSO DUCATI TEAM 2'11.485 2. V. ROSSI MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP 2'11.731 3. J. LORENZO MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP 2'11.787 SECOND ROW 4. M. MARQUEZ REPSOL HONDA TEAM 2'11.874 5. C. CRUTCHLOW LCR HONDA 2'12.558 6. A. IANNONE DUCATI TEAM 2'12.598 THIRD ROW 7. A. ESPARGARÒ TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 2'12.869 8. M. VIÑALES TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 2'12.981 9. A. BAUTISTA APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 2'13.325 FOURTH ROW 10. L. BAZ AVINTIA RACING 2'13.452 11. P. ESPARGARÒ MONSTER YAMAHA TECH3 2'13.707 Source: Yamaha Motor Racing Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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