Jorge Lorenzo has said that he “can't wait” for the 2012 MotoGP season after testing the new Yamaha machine for the first time at Brno on Monday. Next year sees the dawning of a new era with 1000cc machines replacing the current 800s, and the World Champion expects them to produce some spectacular action.
“Today has been an exciting and busy day because it has been the first day riding the 1000cc bike, but also because we have made a small step with the engine upgrades for the 800cc bike. We rode many laps non-stop from nine this morning to five this afternoon! I realized the 1000cc bike was incredible when I saw the power on the straight. I like this bike a lot and I wanted to have more laps but I have to still think about this season! I have been just one hour with our future bike! I can say that the next MotoGP season will be amazing, much more power, you go out of the corners sliding; I can't wait!”
Both Lorenzo and his injury-stricken teammate Ben Spies tested the 2011 M1 as well as next year's machine and it was the improvements to the 800cc biker that gave Spies cause for optimism.
“The 800cc upgrades we tested this morning were positive, hopefully there's more in that direction in the future as well. With the 1000cc bike it was a pretty successful first day. We didn't change much on it, pretty much just rolled out and did some laps to get as much data as possible. We made some small changes to see how differently it affected the bike compared to the 800.There's more improvements to be made for sure but for the first day to go faster than the 800 was a surprise. My arm is feeling better and better, I'm getting a check up when I fly home to the US on Wednesday but should be fit and ready for Indianapolis.”
Lorenzo and Spies ended the day in second and third respectively behind Casey Stoner who also ran a 2012 prototype. A full report along with the times from yesterday's test is available here.
