Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi had a solid start to the Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland race weekend despite slightly threatening weather conditions.


Both riders were quick to find their rhythm at the challenging German circuit during the morning free practice session. Topping the standings multiple times throughout the session, Jorge Lorenzo finished as leading factory bike in second place, only 0.253 from first. Teammate Valentino Rossi was not far behind in third place, 0.296 seconds from the front.


Lorenzo continued his form during FP2. The afternoon session was shortly interrupted by spots of rain, but the rack was quick to dry with action resuming. The Spaniard was soon back out on the track and managed to keep his times consistent within the 1’22’s, to eventually finish third in the combined times, 0.327 from the front.


Rossi used the second session to find a set-up that suits the harder front tyres. He was not able to improve on his time from the morning session and ended the first day of practice in sixth position overall, 0.425 from first.

Jorge Lorenzo – 3rd / 1’22.368 / 23 laps

“It went quite well today. We were always within the top three. Today the bike is working well. It’s more stable than it was in Montmeló and in Assen, so in pace I’m quite good and also the braking is good. We just need to improve some small details to fight for first row tomorrow. Also, physically I am better than ever, so I feel strong.”

Valentino Rossi – 6th/ 1’22.466 / 21 laps

“It’s a shame that I couldn’t improve on my time from this morning, because this morning was a good practice for me. I was in the third position and I felt very good with the bike, but this afternoon with the higher temperature we had to use the harder tyre on the front and we don’t have the right setting to use it. The bike was more difficult to turn and had understeer. I suffered a lot and I wasn’t fast enough. I’m a little bit worried, especially because for tomorrow morning we have to improve and understand the problem. Tomorrow will be an important day, especially in the afternoon. We have to try to stay in the top position. We have to work with the team and improve the setting for the harder tyres. Also, this weekend I have the new exhaust with two pipes. I like it, it’s not a big difference but from the bottom it’s more smooth so we can work on the pipe and try to improve.”

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“It's impressive to see Jorge's strength and focus back to its inspiring normal state. After a difficult weekend in Assen he is here totally focused and fast. He rode two impressive sessions today, very fast and consistent and he looks very promising for the weekend. Vale was also impressive this morning, they then made a very small change to the setting for the afternoon session and it was clear to see that with the harder front tyre the bike behaves very differently. We were not able to find a solution in time to improve the lap time today but will of course work on this tonight and also in general to improve Jorge’s set up and be ready for FP3 tomorrow morning.”

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