Jorge Lorenzo’s return from injury continued in unforgiving conditions today, with the 21-year-old having to cope with a rain-hit Donington Park as he tried to find his confidence and feeling after his recent run of bad luck. The Michelin-shod Fiat Yamaha rookie was unable to make much headway today and could only manage 17th on the grid, the first time he has qualified off the first two rows since he joined Yamaha.
In the first, very wet session this morning things seemed to be looking up with Lorenzo seeming to find a rhythm and finishing a creditable ninth. The rain eased up throughout the middle part of the day however and, although he improved his time by over three seconds, others improved more and his grid position suffered as a result. With tomorrow’s forecast promising drier weather but high winds, Lorenzo’s aim will be just to finis h safely and try to gain some confidence back on the bike in the process, looking ahead to the next race in Assen just seven days away.
Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile had a more successful day and will start his 200th Grand Prix from the middle of the front row in second position. The race will begin at the later time of 1500 GMT, 1600 in Europe.
Jorge Lorenzo Position: 17th
Time: 1'41.873
Laps: 23
“This morning I was riding quite well but in the afternoon the track changed; it dried out a bit and it became more difficult for me. I improved by three seconds but it wasn’t enough because the others improved by six or seven seconds! I’ve never started so far back in MotoGP and it’s a very different experience for me. I would have liked to have done one more session in the dry conditions but it hasn’t been possible, and now I must be very focused tomorrow. For me it will be a success to finish the race, because for sure it’s better to finish than to crash! We have to keep going step-by-step and then I know that we can improve in Assen. Yesterday we made a mistake because we wanted to change a lot of things on the bike but in fact the problem was me; this is a bad time for me but I can’t let it get me down because I know this will pass and that sooner or later things will be better.”
Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager “This was a difficult qualifying session for us despite an encouraging morning, when things went quite well and we were able to find a good balance and lap time. This afternoon the track was drier and we lacked rear grip; it was very difficult for Jorge going into the fast corners and also under acceleration. These conditions are making a difficult weekend even harder for him, when he is already lacking confidence after coming back from injury, and he has to take even more care to avoid mistakes. Now we will have a long meeting and we must find some solutions to improve things for tomorrow, because for sure the sixth row is not the right place for us.”
Ambient temperature: 12 degrees
Track temperature: 15 degrees
Humidity: 81%
Qualifying Times: FRONT ROW 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'38.232
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'38.881
3. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'39.018
SECOND ROW 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'39.270
5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'39.601
6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'39.783
THIRD ROW 7. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'39.995
8. Ben Spies (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'40.244
9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'40.350
FOURTH ROW 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'40.417
11. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'40.539
12. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'40.595
FIFTH ROW 13. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'40.667
14. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'41.110
15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'41.379
SIXTH ROW 16. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'41.751
17. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'41.873 18. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'42.933
Donington Park:Record Lap: D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'28.714
Best Lap: D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'27.676
