Lorenzo leads Friday practice in Portugal
Temperatures were comfortably in the mid-twenties and both riders were happy to be back on board, using the time to reacquaint themselves with their YZR-M1s after the holidays and work on tire selection and set-up. Dani Pedrosa was on top for much of the first half of the session but with 20 minutes to go Lorenzo moved into the lead and he finished the session well inside the lap record and an impressive 0.359 seconds ahead of Pedrosa. Rossi was less than a tenth off Pedrosa in third and is confident that a little more time to work on set-up tomorrow will enable him improve the balance of his bike in the hard braking areas and close the disadvantage to his young team-mate.
Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1stTime: 1'37.185Laps: 27
"It's good to be back on the bike after one month but also quite hard! I enjoyed today though and we did a good job and made an encouraging start. After a bit of work we were able to do a very good time and I am happy to be in front, it's important at this stage of the championship to make a strong start this weekend. We have one or two things to improve but we are in good shape. I am happy to see Casey back and also to see that he is already strong. Finally I want to mention the special sticker I have on my bike this weekend for Lukas Sembera, a young Czech rider who had a bad accident two weeks ago – I wish him all the best in his recovery."
Pos | Rider | Time | Nat | Bike | Team |
1 | Jorge Lorenzo | 1m 37.185 | SPA | YAMAHA | Fiat Yamaha Team |
2 | Dani Pedrosa | 1m 37.544 | SPA | HONDA | Repsol Honda Team |
3 | Valentino Rossi | 1m 37.606 | ITA | YAMAHA | Fiat Yamaha Team |
4 | Casey Stoner | 1m 37.966 | AUS | DUCATI | Ducati Marlboro Team |
5 | Colin Edwards | 1m 38.103 | USA | YAMAHA | Tech 3 Yamaha |
6 | Andrea Dovizioso | 1m 38.244 | ITA | HONDA | Repsol Honda Team |
7 | Randy De Puniet | 1m 38.385 | FRA | HONDA | LCR Honda MotoGP |
8 | James Toseland | 1m 38.591 | GBR | YAMAHA | Tech 3 Yamaha |
9 | Alex De Angelis | 1m 38.629 | SMR | HONDA | San Carlo Honda Gresini |
10 | Mika Kallio | 1m 38.661 | FIN | DUCATI | Pramac Racing |
11 | Nicky Hayden | 1m 38.850 | USA | DUCATI | Ducati Marlboro Team |
12 | Loris Capirossi | 1m 38.978 | ITA | SUZUKI | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP |
13 | Niccolo Canepa | 1m 39.033 | ITA | DUCATI | Pramac Racing |
14 | Gabor Talmacsi | 1m 39.393 | HUN | HONDA | Scot Racing Team MotoGP |
15 | Toni Elias | 1m 39.567 | SPA | HONDA | San Carlo Honda Gresini |
16 | Chris Vermeulen | 1m 39.686 | AUS | SUZUKI | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP |
17 | Marco Melandri | 1m 39.757 | ITA | KAWASAKI | Hayate Racing Team |