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After claiming his 100th premier-class
podium with a strong second place in the
Spanish Grand Prix yesterday, it was
straight back to work for Valentino Rossi
and the Fiat Yamaha Team as they undertook a
full day's testing at Jerez today. |
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The Fiat
Yamaha Team's young Spanish rookie Jorge Lorenzo, who
boasts an outstanding record of two pole positions and
two podiums from his two MotoGP starts, put in more
impressive work today during a one-day test in Jerez.
After joining his team-mate Valentino Rossi as part of a
Fiat Yamaha double podium yesterday, he posted the
fastest time of the day and completed a total of 94
laps.
Another day of Andalucian sunshine today provided
Lorenzo and his crew with the chance to work on general
setting and their all-important tyre testing programme
with Michelin amid slightly more relaxed surroundings.
The Mallorcan continued to show his ability and fast
rate of progress, not only topping the time sheets on a
qualifying tyre but lapping consistenly fast on race
tyres. His best time on a race tyre was 1'39.59, over
half a second faster than the fastest lap record
recorded in yesterday's race and he was the only rider
to dip under the 1'38 mark on a qualifying tyre.
Danielle Romagnoli - Team Manager of Jorge Lorenzo
"It was a another really good day today; Jorge's
progress is almost unbelievable for us to watch and
every day is enjoyable. The most impressive thing today
is that we were able to improve on Jorge's race pace
from Saturday, which was the best pace of the whole
weekend. We continued to work on set-up and improved the
front feeling with the help of a new fork setting, and
with race tyres today he was very consistent and very
fast. We also refined some engine mapping and through
this it seems that we've been able to obtain improvement
with tyre wear. Michelin had planned a very interesting
tyre test for us today with Estoril in mind and we found
some good things, especially concerning the rear tyre.
Jorge has done a great job at just his second race and
today's test gave us a chance to check out some
important things that will help us at the next race in
Estoril. We're already looking forward to the next
challenge but for now I want to thank all the team and
Yamaha for their hard work; they deserve a good rest
before Portugal!"
After
claiming his 100th premier-class podium with a strong
second place in the Spanish Grand Prix yesterday, it was
straight back to work for Valentino Rossi and the Fiat
Yamaha Team as they undertook a full day's testing at
Jerez today. With just two races under their belts since
joing forces with Bridgestone, the primary focus of
Rossi's crew still remains developing the union between
the 2008 Yamaha M1 and the Bridgestone rubber.
Yesterday's podium proves they are on the right track
but today offered a chance to spend some uninterrupted
hours concentrating on just this, with satisfying
results all round. Setting was improved in general and
Rossi was pleased with some of the new compound tyres he
tried, both front and rear and including qualifying
tyres. He completed 85 laps in total and his best lap,
set with a qualifying tyre, put him second in a time of
1'39.117. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo also had a good
day after his third place yesterday, topping the time
sheets with a best lap of 1'38.679. The team will now
have a short break before heading to Estoril in Portugal
in ten days time, confident that they are in good shape
at this early stage of the season.
Davide Brivio - Team Manager of Valentino Rossi
"Today gave us the chance to spend a whole day working
closely with our engineers and Bridgestone on tyres and
general bike setting. It's still early days in the
Bridgestone-Yamaha relationship so we are still focusing
on adapting these two elements in order to create the
best package. We got some good feedback today and it
seems we improved the feeling in both areas. It's been
very important to stay this extra day because the first
two races have been quite intense for everyone, so it's
good to have time to test in relaxed surroundings
without the pressure that comes during a race weekend.
We were able to go through things step by step, analyse
the details and take on board some information which we
hope will be useful in Estoril and beyond. We worked
with different front and rear compounds today, and we
also tested some qualifying tyres. Of course we're
always looking to improve the setting and today we were
also abe to improve the stability of the bike in the
fast corners. Valentino is happy with the days work and
now he and all of the team will have some well deserved
rest before the next race."
1. Jorge
Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'38.679
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'39.117
3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'39.218
4. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'39.484
5. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'39.569
6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'39.747
7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'40.034
8. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'40.116
9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'40.389
10. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'40.394
11. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'40.534
12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini
1'41.308
13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'41.396
14. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'42.132
15. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'42.240
16. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 1'42.562
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'42.624
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