Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: Yamaha
Jorge Lorenzo admits he is still looking for the ideal set-up in his Yamaha YZR-M1 despite qualifying on the front row on Saturday. The Spaniard missed out on pole to Casey Stoner by a tenth of a second and revealed that a moment at turn three cost him time on his hot lap.
Rear tyre choice looks set to be crucial in the hot conditions but Lorenzo says he is still unhappy with the feeling at the front of his bike.
“It was very important to finish on the front row today because I knew all the riders would be pushing to the limit in qualifying. The lap times were very close but I managed to make a good lap. I almost crashed in T3 on my first hot lap on the bumps so second place is good for tomorrow. We still need a little good feeling on the front; we are struggling on some corners so we need to improve the feeling or it's going to be difficult in the race. We would have liked to be on pole, but we are happy with the position.”
Teammate Ben Spies put in a solid performance to head the second row in fourth. The American has still to deliver on race day this season but is confident of changing that tomorrow.
“That was a pretty good qualifying session. I'm a little frustrated as I lost a couple of tenths on one of the splits which would have put me on the front row. I think I had almost too much grip through T1 and T2 with the soft tyre! The bike is working really well, the team's worked hard to deliver a good set up so I'm confident we can run a competitive pace and stay with it tomorrow. It's going to be a tough race and I'm hoping the rain stays off!”
