Jorge Lorenzo kept
his 2010 MotoGP front-row record intact in Mugello
this afternoon, qualifying in second place for the
third race in a row. Dani Pedrosa took pole whilst
Casey Stoner will line-up outside Fiat Yamaha rider
Lorenzo. Valentino Rossi will miss out on his home
race after crashing in practice this morning and
suffering a compound fracture of the lower right
tibia.
Lorenzo looked effortlessly comfortable today on his
bike, topping the time sheets in both the warm-up and
for part of this afternoon's session. The 23-year-old
and his team had made some small modifications to his M1
and he was able to lap consistently faster than
yesterday around the flowing curves of the Tuscan track.
In the final stages he looked on course for a first pole
of the season but Pedrosa snatched it from him inside
the last minute, leaving the Mallorcan 0.177 adrift.
While
Lorenzo will be chasing his third win in a row when the
lights go out at 2pm tomorrow, Rossi will be recovering
from the surgery on his right tibia taking place this
afternoon. The reigning World Champion crashed in
practice this morning and was taken to the CTO (Centro
Traumatologico Ortopedico) in Florence to undergo an
operation to fix the break.
“You will return stronger
than ever,” That is the belief of Ferrari Chairman Luca
di Montezemolo who quickly sent a message of best wishes
and support to Rossi. “Everyone at Ferrari is with you
at this difficult time. We are sure that you will be
back on track soon, even stronger than before. If during
your convalescense you feel you would like to do some
training on four wheels, then remember that the door to
Maranello is always open to you.”
Jorge Lorenzo
"Firstly I want to say how sad I am for Valentino. I
know how bad it is to be injured, especially at your
home race, and it looks very painful for him. I hope he
recovers quickly because the championship will not be
the same without him. Today we made some good steps
forward and I am very happy about how my bike is feeling
here in Mugello. I have a good race pace, the
Bridgestone tyres feel good and I think I can make a
fight tomorrow. We have to stay calm, focused and
concentrated and hopefully it will be a good race for us
here in Italy, at the home track for many of my team."
Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Lorenzo)
"We want to say how sorry we are for Valentino; everyone
wants to beat him but only on the racetrack and all the
riders and our team members are sad that he has so much
pain and that he can't race. It was a good session for
us, second seems to be ‘our' grid position at the moment
and I think it's okay, less pressure than being on pole
and it keeps Jorge sharp! Now is the time to keep
focused and not make mistakes, we have a good race pace
and now we will see what tomorrow brings. We didn't
think about the weather but it seems it might be an
issue, let's hope not."
