Rossi homecoming marred by rain

From Yamaha Racing

It was a wet and gloomy return to home turf for Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi Friday, as heavy rain greeted the MotoGP paddock on the opening day of the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

The weather was in stark contrast to the bright Tuscan sunshine that's generally expected at this race and made for a muddy day on the hillsides for Rossi's army of Italian fans.

An early morning shower meant the morning first free practice was run on a drying track, with times decreasing throughout. Rossi was quite fast early on but did not go out when the track was at its driest and times were fastest, finishing the session in 10th with a 1:58.672.

The afternoon was an even wetter story, with a heavy shower during the first quarter of the session and steady drizzle from then on meaning there was standing water on the track throughout, but it gave Rossi and his crew an important chance to gather more information about the Bridgestone rain tires and also to refine their wet set-up.

The Italian was very pleased with the improvement and finished the afternoon session in fourth, setting a best time in the wet of 2:02.327, although he remains 10th in the combined standings due to the faster times from this morning.

"This morning was very tricky with the track quite patchy, so I preferred to take it easy in these conditions," Rossi said. "This afternoon was very useful however and we were able to make some important modifications to our wet set-up, which enabled us to go quite fast at the end and finish fourth.

"At the start of the session it was so wet that it felt a bit dangerous, so it was necessary to be very careful, but it was better in the second half and I am glad we've had this session because it reassures us that we're fast also in the wet. From now on here I think, and hope, that it's going to be dry so we will start again tomorrow."

It was a promising day for Spanish youngster Jorge Lorenzo as he was able to make significant steps with his rain set-up. Sunday will be the 21-year-old's 100th Grand Prix start. Lorenzo is still recovering from the two fractured ankles that he sustained in China earlier this month but his physical condition is much improved and he is now finding riding much easier.

With heavy rain early on making for extremely tricky conditions on a drying track in the morning however he took it easy and refrained from taking any risks, finishing the session in 14th with a time of 2:00.004. With the track fully wet in the afternoon it was a different story and he and his crew made the most of the conditions to work their way through some new Michelin wet tires and to improve the rain set-up of their M1.

The Mallorcan completed 25 laps, more than any other rider, and a best time of 2:02.562 put him sixth in the afternoon, although with times in the morning having been faster on the drier track he remains 14th in the combined standings.

"Today I am actually very happy because we were quite fast in the rain," he said. "When I first rode the M1 in the wet I found it very hard but bit by bit we have improved and today I felt quite confident. The morning was very strange and I didn't want to take too many risks; my ankles are feeling much better but I don't want to make any more mistakes. This afternoon however when it was fully wet I did a lot of laps and I was able to make one long run of 19 consecutive laps, during which I was able to find a good rhythm."