Lorenzo takes fastest laptime of first day washout at Estoril

In echoes of the harsh weather conditions witnessed two weeks ago at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, heavy rains and wind severely disrupted today’s free practice sessions at the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. The morning’s 45 minute first free practice session saw less than five MotoGP riders take to the circuit for a minimal number of laps, the majority, Fiat Yamaha Team riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi included, deciding to sit it out in the hope of gentler conditions for the afternoon. The riders’ patience paid off with a break in the rain signalling the start of the afternoon session, the circuit drying in patches towards the end of the 45 minute practice.

Newly crowned 2010 MotoGP World Champion Lorenzo was clearly enjoying one of his favourite circuits on the calendar, relishing the enjoyment of riding with the pressure of the world championship title battle no longer a focus. The young Mallorcan lapped consistently within the top four before a final push at the end of the session to secure the fastest time in advance of tomorrow’s qualifying sessions. Tomorrow’s two sessions have both been extended to one hour in order to make up for some of the time lost to the rain today.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st Time: 1’48.522 Laps: 20
“I love this track, I have won here both times in MotoGP so I am very happy to be here. Unfortunately the weather was terrible this morning and there was no point in riding, then this afternoon it was still very difficult, with a lot of water on the track and you had to be very careful. I felt good despite the conditions and step-by-step we improved so that at the end, when it was slightly drier, I was able to set a good time and we are on top. Tomorrow we will have two longer sessions so we will be able to recover some of the lost time, let’s hope for no more rain!”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“We are quite happy with the practice, not so happy with all the rain so far. The track was starting to dry towards the end of the session though and we were able to make some small improvements to the settings. We have to concentrate on entry and exit grip on the rear on the corners so if it’s wet again tomorrow we’ll focus on that. P1 is always good but the times are very close so we’ll see tomorrow.”

Source: Yamaha Racing