Grand Prix of Germany Qualifying - Lorenzo
Ambient temperature: 20 degrees
Track temperature: 27 degrees
Humidity: 48%
SECOND ROW BOOSTS LORENZO’S CONFIDENCE AT THE
SACHSENRING
Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo secured his best grid spot
since the French Grand Prix back in May today, qualifying
fifth for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix. The Spanish
youngster put in a promising showing on his Michelin qualifying
tyres and set his best time on his 25th of 29 laps.
After hot sunshine yesterday, heavy rain early on left the
track wet for the morning’s practice session, which
meant that Lorenzo and his team were unable to try some of
their planned modifications. This afternoon’s qualifying
session was dry but the 21-year-old was unable to make much
headway on race tyres and is still lacking the pace that came
so easily to him earlier in the year. His good performance
on qualifying tyres therefore was a welcome confidence boost
and he will be looking to make the most of it in tomorrow’s
30-lap race. Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile
will start from the front of the third row, in seventh, when
the race gets underway at 1400 CET.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 5th Time: 1'21.795 Laps: 29
“We’ve worked very hard this weekend and I am
happy to be on the second row, it’s an improvement and
with the Michelin qualifying tyres I was able to go quite
fast. However with the race tyre we still have problems and
it’s very frustrating; we don’t have enough grip
with the rear and this means I don’t have enough confidence
in the bike and I can’t ride fast. More than ever today,
I am finding it very hard to understand how I was so fast
earlier on in the season and now I am so slow! All we can
do is keep working and not stop, in order to try to find the
confidence we are lacking. I hope tomorrow that I can make
the most of starting on the second row, try to stay with the
leading riders and hopefully enjoy my race. I’m sorry
really that Valentino was behind me on one of his fast laps,
I was slowing down to go into the pits and I wasn’t
aware that he was there. In fact I didn’t know anything
about it until afterwards but I am very sorry that it happened,
especially when he was doing such a good lap.”
Daniele Romagnoli
Team Manager
“Today has been another difficult qualifying session
and Jorge still doesn’t have enough confidence to ride
with as fast a pace as the front riders. Our biggest problem
is the lack of rear grip and the fact that the rear tyre is
spinning too much, especially under acceleration. The team
is working very hard to improve our package but the weather
didn’t help us much this morning and we didn’t
have time to try all the solutions we had planned. Therefore
we will have to use the warm-up to continue our work! With
the Michelin qualifying tyres Jorge was able to make a good
second row so for the race we hope he can get a good start
and then try to stay with the leading riders.”
Qualifying Times
FRONT ROW
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'21.067
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'21.420
3. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'21.519
SECOND ROW
4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'21.656
5. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'21.795
6. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'21.821
THIRD ROW
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'21.845
8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'21.876
9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'21.920
FOURTH ROW
10. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'21.977
11. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'22.126
12. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'22.256
FIFTH ROW
13. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'22.542
14. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'22.601
15. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'22.938
SIXTH ROW
16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'23.131
17. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'23.158
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