Lorenzo back on front row but “win would be a miracle”

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies managed to escape the threat of rain today and enjoy a third free practice and subsequent qualifying session under dry and sunny conditions. Lorenzo will start the Grand Prix of Catalunya tomorrow from the front row in third position on the grid, his team mate Spies taking fourth for a second row start.

Both riders made big steps forward from yesterday with the improved weather; the reigning World Champion Lorenzo finding over a second from day one to wrap up qualifying 0.315 seconds from pole. The improvement from Spies was even more impressive, the Texan finding nearly two seconds today and running as high as second place during qualifying. A front row start was looking possible until a concerted effort by his Mallorcan team mate relegated him to the second row at the end of the heat, just 0.014 seconds behind Lorenzo.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position 3rd Time 1.42.728 Laps 25
“It has been a tough session today. In the morning it was good but in the afternoon we struggled a little bit. I pushed as hard as I could for pole but it was not possible. The race will also be tough because we are still quite far from the front but not as far as yesterday. If we can take one or two tenths we can fight for something, but I think a win would be a miracle.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“Not the best qualifying we’ve had so far. This morning it went well and we made some adjustments after that. This afternoon they didn’t really work out, Jorge was missing some front end feeling so was pushing hard, we need to solve that for tomorrow. Anyway we are happy to be on the front row because that’s important but it’s more important now to solve our front end problem.”

Source: Yamaha Racing