Lorenzo keeps season’s front row record intact with second fastest qualifying time

Jorge Lorenzo took another front row this afternoon at Aragon, the remarkably consistent Spaniard putting his Fiat Yamaha machine onto the second spot on the grid to continue his record of a top-three qualification at each round this season. His team-mate Valentino Rossi had a more difficult day and will start from seventh tomorrow, at the head of the third row.

After a wet day yesterday the rain stayed away and there were even some occasional bright spells at the Spanish circuit, giving the riders some much needed dry track time. Lorenzo was consistently fast throughout the session and was pleased with how he was adapting his riding style to suit the track, which led to better grip and more confidence today. In the closing minutes he was up on the pole position time on several occasions before just missing out each time in the final split, but his final best lap was only three tenths off pole-sitter Casey Stoner and the championship leader is hopeful of being in the mix for tomorrow’s race.

Both riders are paying their respects to Shoya Tomizawa at this race; Lorenzo by wearing a replica of the Japanese rider’s helmet and Rossi with a specially created sticker on his own helmet.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2nd Time: 1’49.251 Laps: 21
“I’m riding well and I am happy about how I have improved my riding style in every practice to better suit this new track. I also understand the track better on every lap so this helps me to be faster. We are losing some time on the straight at the end of the lap so we have to be very strong in all the other parts to try to make up for it. We can’t do anything about this so it’s important that I know how to ride the rest of the track perfectly. I think tomorrow could be quite an exciting race for us and for the fans and for sure it will be a hard fight for me, but I will do my best as usual to get on the podium.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“Second position is good as we know it’s going to be a very tough race tomorrow. We found a good direction this afternoon; everyone else has improved as well but Jorge felt better this morning than yesterday and improved by over one second. To fight with Dani and Casey tomorrow will be a fun challenge because they look strong and have a good pace, but we will be careful and of course our target is always the podium.”

Source: Yamaha Racing