Jorge Lorenzo will start his debut US Grand Prix from the second row of the grid, having qualified fourth at Laguna Seca today. The Fiat Yamaha Team rookie was able to make significant strides with his set-up today and is now looking forward to his first American challenge tomorrow.
The track was shrouded in heavy fog this morning, which only just cleared in time for the first practice to go ahead. Despite the cool temperatures Lorenzo and his crew improved on his time from yesterday by half a second and the Spaniard went into this afternoon’s qualifying with much more confidence. Bright sunshine made it a cheerier affair and Lorenzo was able to put in some fast laps with his Michelin qualifying tyres, his best and final effort putting him fourth, well inside the pole position record of last year.
His team-mate Valentino Rossi secured a front- row start in second place, in between Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden. Tomorrow’s 32-lap race will start at 1400 West Coast time.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 4th
Time: 1'21.636
Laps: 27
“We had a good qualifying tyre from Michelin and I was very happy with my performance this afternoon. The second row is very good, especially since this is my first time here. We know we have a race tyre that is okay for tomorrow, but it is quite hard and therefore it is quite difficult to get temperature into it; this is the problem for our pace. In fact today we improved a lot but we are still a long way off the best time and therefore I think it’s going to be a very hard race and we will struggle to go fast in the early stages, until we can get enough temperature into the tyre. For me the most difficult part of the track is still the first corner, this is where I lack some feeling, so we will try to improve things a bit more in the warm-up. Besides all this I am still having fun riding here, even though it is clear that t his is not the best race for our package! I will do my best tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to enjoy myself again.”
Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager
“This has been quite a good day for us; in the morning session we improved our issues with the rear grip and this afternoon we’ve made another step forward again. The team did a great job to change our base set-up from the previous races and now Jorge is getting back some of his confidence with the bike. Of course we still need to improve and refine our setting because on the entry to the corner we still have a few issues, so we are planning some things for the warm-up. The team and Jorge enjoyed themselves a lot today with the Michelin qualifying tyres and Jorge was able to take a good fourth place. For his first time on this track this is already a good result, so now we hope for a good race tomorrow.”
Ambient temperature: 23 degrees
Track temperature: 36 degrees
Humidity: 42%
Qualifying Times
FRONT ROW
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'20.700
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'21.147
3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'21.430
SECOND ROW
4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'21.636
5. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'21.848
6. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'21.921
THIRD ROW
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'21.947
8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'21.971
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'21.974
FOURTH ROW
10. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'21.999
11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'22.039
12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'22.092
FIFTH ROW
13. Ben Spies (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'22.127
14. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'22.719
15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'22.957
SIXTH ROW
16. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'23.035
17. Jamie Hacking (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team 1'23.309
18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'24.525
Laguna Seca
Record Lap: C. Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 1'22.542
Best Lap: C. Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 1'21.975
