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This afternoon’s qualifying session at
Laguna Seca saw Valentino Rossi put his Fiat
Yamaha M1 on the front row of the grid for
the sixth time this season, qualifying
second for tomorrow’s US Grand Prix. |
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This afternoon’s qualifying session at Laguna Seca saw
Valentino Rossi put his Fiat Yamaha M1 on the front row
of the grid for the sixth time this season, qualifying
second for tomorrow’s MotoGP United States Grand Prix. Yamaha and Rossi
announced last night that he has signed a new deal to
continue racing with the factory in MotoGP for two more
years, and the Italian is keen to celebrate by taking
his first win at this track tomorrow.
Heavy fog this morning cast doubt over whether the day’s
proceedings would begin on time and this morning’s
practice session was run in very low temperatures, with
Rossi finishing second. Luckily however the Californian
sun showed its face this afternoon and the qualifying
session was a much warmer affair, with Rossi
consistently fast throughout, having found an improved
suspension set-up this morning. With six minutes
remaining a fast lap with a Bridgestone qualifying tyre
put him second, although he temporarily surrendered the
spot a few minutes later. Rossi’s final flying lap was
even faster however and, although he was unable to catch
Stoner, it was good enough for second on the grid.
It was a successful day all round for the Fiat Yamaha
Team as Jorge Lorenzo was able to qualify fourth on what
is his first ride at the track. Rossi will start in between Stoner and
Hayden, two former winners here, when the lights go out
at 1400 West Coast time for tomorrow’s 32-lap race.
Valentino Rossi
“I’m pleased with this result and I think we’ve done a good
job today. This morning, even though it was very cold, we
were able to make some good steps forward, especially with
the suspension setting, and I was able to be quite fast.
This afternoon we were able to do a long simulation and this
was very important to help us understand how the tyres will
be tomorrow. It seems they are quite good, but this is a
very hard race for tyres! It’s also a hard race physically
and so I know that tomorrow will be a big challenge. Second
place is good for us and I think we’ve done a lot better in
the practice this weekend than we have in the last couple of
races, so I’m happy about this. Casey is very fast and I
don’t know exactly how to beat him – maybe I need to start
30 seconds earlier! Whatever happens a good start is going
to be very important and then I will just try to stay with
him and keep pushing.”
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