Lorenzo over the moon with night test progress

Lorenzo over the moon with night test progress



Wednesday, 04 March 2009
Fiat Yamaha man delighted with Tuesday night performance at Losail.


Cutting over 1.5 seconds off his Monday lap time on the final night of MotoGP testing in Qatar, Jorge Lorenzo felt the benefit of a setting switch as he adapted his Yamaha M1 to Bridgestone tyres. An adjustment to his riding saw a step forward for last year’s poleman at the Losail Circuit, who was elated with the breakthrough.
“I am so happy tonight because this session has been much, much better for us,” said Lorenzo after a late fast lap and an extended race simulation. The Fiat Yamaha man performed 82 laps of the track on Tuesday night despite tricky conditions, the most of any rider.
”The long run was especially good but in fact the whole evening has been an improvement, so I am very pleased about the job we have done. We’ve tried some different settings, which have helped, but mainly I have adapted and found a way to be comfortable, which means I can ride faster. I have a much better feeling with the Bridgestone tyres and I was able to be very consistent throughout the long run and keep a good rhythm.
”Everyone has worked really hard to make this step and I am happy to finish this test on a good note. Now I am looking forward to the race!”
The setting adjustments also enabled the former 250cc World Champion to be able to enter corners at a faster pace, previously a problem for the factory Yamaha riders.
Lorenzo was second on the Tuesday night timesheet with a quickest time of 1’56.733, just under a second slower than Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner.