Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Jorge Lorenzo impressed with a strong start to the race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. Teammate Valentino Rossi had a more challenging start to the second half of the season, finishing the first practice session in tenth.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were on track today for the first time since the start of the Summer break for the first free practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Indianapolis Grand Prix.

Having returned from their holiday this was the first opportunity for both riders to re-familiarize themselves with their YZR-M1 and get back into a riding rhythm. Lorenzo needed little time to reclaim his form, finishing the first day in first place with Rossi ending the day in tenth.

Lorenzo quickly got a feel for the American track on his first laps in the morning session and needed only seven minutes to take over the top spot from his teammate. He held this position as he began to work on his setting and improve his time until the times dropped at the end of FP1. He answered the challenge and pulled a 1'33.654 out of the hat to lead the morning standings.

As the conditions heated up in the afternoon so did the action on track with all riders increasing their pace. Lorenzo kept working on perfecting his set-up and decided it was time to give another push at the end of FP2. He took over the provisional lead before a last minute shoot out moved him back to second, but again Lorenzo saved the best for last and finished at the top of the time sheets with a 1'32.860.  

Teammate Rossi also set an impressive pace early on during the morning practice session, riding the YZR-M1 to first in the rankings on the first lap. He continued to reclaim the provisional top spot multiple times as the pace of the field quickened. He then moved on to testing solutions to improve tyre life, a common problem at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway due to its lay-out with mainly left corners, ending the first session as fifth quickest with a best lap of 1'34.374.

The Doctor worked tirelessly in the afternoon to further improve his setting. Though he didn't make up any ground in terms of the ranking, he was able to better his time to a 1'33.532, thereby reducing the gap to the front. He ended the session in tenth place.

With nearly all MotoGP riders having improved their times in the second practice, today's results see Lorenzo hold first in the combined session times, with Rossi 0,672s behind in tenth position.




Jorge Lorenzo  - 1st / 1'32.860 / 27 laps 

"I'm very happy, because with every change we made we were able to improve the bike a bit. I'm riding very well and had a good feeling with the bike so I was able to ride close to the limit for the moment. We had the same sensation with the harder tyre, while other riders had used a new soft tyre they couldn't even get close to our time, so that was a very good sign in the morning and we confirmed it in the afternoon. Let's see if we continue working this way and we'll concentrate on improving the bike even more."

 
Valentino Rossi - 10th / 1'33.532 / 41 laps 

"It was a difficult Friday, because I wasn't strong or fast enough, already starting from this morning. We have a lot of problems and I don't feel good with the bike and was not able to ride at the limit. The main problem is that I didn't have enough feeling with the front so I had trouble under braking, turning, and also in changing direction I'm very slow. The bike is too lazy and heavy so this means we don't have the right balance. Like I said, it was a difficult day. We tried the soft tyre at the end and it was a little bit faster, but not enough. For tomorrow it's very important that we try to understand the problem, do good work with all the data during this night and try to be more competitive, already starting from tomorrow morning, which will be important for the grid. The problem became bigger because Jorge and Marquez are very fast and consistent so we need to improve."

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director 

"Today we had a very good start to the race weekend. Jorge has been extremely fast and consistent since the beginning on both tyre choices, so that gives us a lot of confidence. He will focus tomorrow on fine-tuning the setting to improve the bike in the areas where that's still possible. Valentino wasn't as quick to find a good confidence, the team made a few changes on the bike, but there was still something lacking with the feeling. They will work tonight to find a different solution, which will be tested tomorrow morning. There is still time enough, so we are confident he will make a step tomorrow and his bike will be ready for Sunday's race."