Jorge Lorenzo finished sixth in the opening German
practice session today, slightly struggling to find
front end grip at the twisty Sachsenring track.
Valentino Rossi meanwhile made an unexpectedly
strong return to action after his six-week injury
break, finishing just 0.020 off his Fiat Yamaha
team-mate in seventh.
Lorenzo has won three races in a row at high-speed
tracks but the conflicting nature of the Sachsenring
landed him in difficulties today as he lacked confidence
in the front end of his M1 and lost time in the slower
corners. The Mallorcan is hopeful that close study of
the data and a slight alteration to his riding style
will help him improve and he is looking to jump up the
order tomorrow.
After his early return to action Rossi was fully
expected to be taking it gently today but he felt very
comfortable to be back on his M1 and was soon looking
like he'd never been away, sitting in the top four for
most of the session. He dropped down the order a little
at the end but was more than happy to be just 0.723
seconds off Dani Pedrosa's pace. After the session he
applied ice to his leg but he has no more pain than is
to be expected and is looking forward to making more
improvements tomorrow.
Jorge Lorenzo
"Today wasn't a good session for me and I didn't feel so
good on the bike. This isn't one of my favourite tracks
and it's very different to the ones where I've won
lately, so I think I need to make some changes to the
way I'm riding the bike. I was fast at the start but
then we didn't improve from the middle to the end and
everyone else did. We have some work to do and our goal
is to be competitive by Sunday."
Valentino Rossi
"I am really happy today, especially because I am a
lot more agile on the bike than I was in the tests. I
feel good and this track is helping me because a lot of
it turns to the left. I am feeling quite confident on
the bike and also my shoulder is good and not giving me
problems. Now I have some pain in the leg and ankle but
it's not too bad, I was able to do some laps in a row
and I was quite fast so things seem okay. Now we will
have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how the leg
is and whether it has swelled overnight or developed any
problems."
Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager, Lorenzo
"It wasn't a great start for us, Jorge is struggling
for feel and he can't turn so well, compared to 2009
here he's not in such good shape. We need to compare the
data and find out the differences, which are only small,
but small differences always matter at this track
because it's quite short. Hopefully if we can improve
confidence in the front end Jorge will be much quicker,
especially on the slow corners of which there are many
here."
Davide Brivio - Team Manager, Rossi
"Once again Valentino has surprised everyone! After
missing four races and not being completely fit this can
be considered a very good session. From a team point of
view it was like he had never been away, working on the
suspension and searching for the best set-up. His
physical condition isn't too bad, a bit more difficult
in the right hand corners and okay on the left, but
overall it is a lot better than we expected. We're very
happy and now we'll see where we can get to tomorrow."
