Jorge Lorenzo lines up 4th on Austrian GP grid

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo looked on course to take pole position for tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix, until the times dropped at the end of the session and he found himself in fourth place.

Lorenzo was the second to last rider to exit the pit lane today in qualifying, waiting for the pack to go out before he hit some clear space on track. The Mallorcan chose to go out with the soft front, medium option rear tyre and scored a best time of 1’23.639s to take second in the provisional standings on his second lap. Lorenzo then returned to the pits with more than seven and a half minutes remaining.

After a minute he was back on course to challenge for pole position. Now in third place, he found the perfect spot on track to jump to the top of the charts with a 1‘23.361s. He was unable to improve on his last two laps, but his best time was so impressive that it was not bettered until the final seconds of the session. The current World Champion missed out on the front row by just 0.063s, taking fourth place.

JORGE LORENZO
How things can change in MotoGP is just unbelievable, in just one day! Everything can affect the results and today the conditions helped us a lot. Our main rivals didn‘t improve their lap times a lot and we improved by a great difference, more than a second, and that‘s why we were closer and able to fight for pole position. I was very happy with the progression and the lap time. I thought I could be on the first row or even in first position, but finally in the last moment they overtook me. Still, second row is a good place, better than we expected before starting the Grand Prix.

Source: Yamaha Racing