Jorge Lorenzo eighth in the rain on Misano day one

There was little fun to be had today by the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders in the first two practice sessions for Sunday’s ‘Grand Prix di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini’ at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Persistant rain throughout the day meant both Jorge Lorenzo and teammate Valentino Rossi had their wet riding skills tested to the max on the treacherously slippery track.

Lorenzo started slowly, finding his confidence in the wet and was able to make a big improvement over the two sessions, taking nearly four seconds off his time by the end of Free Practice 2 to finish in eighth in the combined standings.

Despite all the work in the wet the weather is now forecast to be dry with sunshine for the remainder of the weekend, meaning the team will start again from the beginning in the third practice tomorrow in the hunt for the best dry set up for the track.

Jorge Lorenzo – 8th | 1’51.541 | 15 Laps
“At least we didn’t crash because today almost everyone did. We have been one of the few lucky ones. The pace has been very difficult to find. I needed a lot of laps to get onto a good rhythm. The tyres didn’t give me so much confidence, that is one of the reasons, but the other is me. I needed more time than the others to build my confidence but I found it in the end to get eighth position. Obviously we need to improve the bike in the rain as our competitors are faster but I also need to improve my riding.”

Source: Yamaha MotoGP