LORENZO STRUGGLES FOR GRIP AT BRNO
Jorge Lorenzo made a tentative return to action at Brno today,
having spent the summer break recuperating from the three
broken metatarsal bones he sustained during a crash at Laguna
Seca. The Fiat Yamaha Team rider is now walking without crutches
and was able to ride without pain today, confident that he
is back to 90% fitness on the bike.
It was not an easy first day back however as the Spaniard
struggled with front-end grip and was only able to put in
the 11th fastest round. The team will now work hard, together
with Michelin, to find a way to improve the situation for
tomorrow.
Meanwhile Valentino Rossi had a more successful opening day
back at work, finishing the day second fastest behind Casey
Stoner in the combined standings.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 11th Time: 1'58.977 Laps: 45
“I am feeling very good physically, and I only feel
pain when I walk to the bike in the garage – once I’m
on it I am fine. I am feeling confident but I need half a
second more in order to be at the front. The main problem
is in the front tyre; I am worried because the first Michelin
is in seventh and this isn’t great, it is clear that
we all need to work together to improve this. We are working
very closely together with Michelin and Yamaha and we are
trying to find a better way for us here this weekend. It is
very difficult at the moment to fight for the podium in the
dry, and in the wet we don’t know yet. My main aim this
weekend is to finish in the top seven. The new asphalt is
better than last year so this is a good thing. One more thing
I want to say – one of my mechanics, Juanito, has just
become a grandfather and so I want to say congratulations
to him!”
Daniele Romagnoli
Team Manager
“We are quite lucky that Jorge’s physical condition
is good – better than we expected – and in fact
it’s the least of our problems today! Our biggest issue
is the confidence in the front end; we don’t have enough
grip and Jorge can’t go into the turns fast enough.
Furthermore, the bike is understeering at full lean and therefore
we’re losing a lot of time in the corners. From the
morning session we were able to improve our package, but it
wasn’t enough to enable us to fight at the top. Tonight
we will work closely with Michelin to analyse data in order
to help each other to improve our front grip problem.”
Combined Free Practice Times
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'57.231
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'57.410
3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'58.000
4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'58.228
5. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'58.264
6. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'58.462
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'58.672
8. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'58.830
9. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'58.881
10. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'58.923
11. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'58.977
12. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'59.094
13. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'59.328
14. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'59.405
15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'59.943
16. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 2'00.540
17. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 2'00.621
Brno: Record Lap
L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1'58.157
Brno: Best Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1'56.191
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