Lorenzo concludes test at Austin with margin to improve and looking for more grip

Yamaha Factory Racing will complete their testing activities today at the Circuit of the Americas track in Texas. Originally planned for a three-day test, riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi managed to provide all the data required over the first two days so will not continue tomorrow.

Both Lorenzo and Rossi used the two days to work with their crews on set up to find the optimum performance from their YZR-M1s’ for the long and technical track. The two made big improvements from the first morning, shaving several seconds off their first times but were still looking for more grip at full lean.

The Yamaha Factory Team will now re-join the rest of the MotoGP paddock back in Europe for the next Official IRTA test at the Jerez de la Frontera Circuit in Spain on the 23rd March.

Jorge Lorenzo Position: 3rd Time: 2.04.664 Laps: 17
“I feel better today, especially in the last run before the lunch break, we changed the set up of the bike and we improved some tenths so we are closer to the fastest riders, but not as much as we would like. We were too soft in the suspension to start with, we made it harder and in this track it works.

These two days that we are here I think is enough to get a good idea of set up and riding style. The fans will like MotoGP here, it is going to be a great show.

We have been trying different set ups of the bike, no new parts, just playing with the set up, changing the suspension and forks and in the last run I improved half a second with set up changes.

We still don’t have enough grip on the rear so we can’t lean over with confidence which is why we are further behind than in Sepang.

I am adapting my riding style every lap a little for the track. In the main straight we are at 340kmh/h which is an amazing speed; when you have to brake and put your helmet up the wind is very strong, so it’s difficult to be stable.”

Massimo Meregalli – Team Director
“First of all I would like to remark that it has been a good idea to come here. Yesterday we were able to download a lot of data from both riders, that has permitted us to find a much better set up.

Today the results we got are quite promising and we are leaving Austin with a lot of useful data. We are expecting different conditions for the race but the test has been successful.

We are now looking forward to the Jerez test which is important as we will decide there how to start for the season.

The test here was organized by Honda to cover three days but we knew from the beginning that two days would be enough for us. The target was to allow the rider to get used to the circuit and get as much data as possible for our Japanese engineers.”

Source: Yamaha MotoGP Press Release