Lorenzo second in Qatar practice

From Yamaha Racing

DOHA, QATAR -- Fiat Yamaha's young new recruit Jorge Lorenzo heralded his arrival into the 2008 MotoGP in Qatar with an impressive performance on the opening night of his first ever premier-class Grand Prix.

With the first race of the season taking place under floodlights in somewhat cooler temperatures than the riders have been used to at the desert track in previous years, it was an interesting first 'day' of the season but Lorenzo was unfazed by the conditions and finished in second place overall behind Casey Stoner with a time of 1:55.453 on Friday night. Stoner's fastest lap was a 1:55.442.

The first free practice saw the youngest rider on the grid picking up exactly where he left off at last week's test, quickly finding his rhythm and lapping consistently fast to finish the session in second. Friday night's later practice saw more of the same as Lorenzo and his team worked on perfecting their set-up and, later on, testing a few Michelin tires.

"I'm happy tonight because we started working from where we left off at the test and things were very good again," Lorenzo said. "Honestly though I didn't really expect to be second on my very first day at a MotoGP race! The track seems dirtier because the wind has been blowing the sand on to it lately, so I think that tomorrow, once the bikes have cleaned it a bit, it will be better and we will be able to push more."

"I am completely comfortable with the light situation and I'm not even thinking anymore about the fact that we're riding at night, it seems normal. We're still lacking a bit of feeling in the front and need a bit more grip, but things are improving step by step."

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi, following on from a test here last week, finished the night's work eighth on his Bridgestone-shod YZR-M1 with a 1:56.269. After suffering from a few problems at last week's test, marginally warmer temperatures for the first practice of the night saw Rossi improve his pace somewhat, finishing in fourth after the first hour. He began to suffer from a lack of grip later on however as conditions deteriorated and the temperature went down and he was unable to improve on his earlier time.

Tech 3 Yamaha riders James Toseland and Colin Edwards got the 2008 MotoGP season off to a flying start in Qatar tonight, ending the opening night of practice with the third and fourth fastest times. Just one week after finishing second in the floodlit IRTA test, Toseland managed to knock 1.1 secs. off his best time from the opening session, shrugging off an early crash to make a confident start to preparations for his MotoGP debut on Sunday night. A best lap of 1.55.812 was the third quickest, just 0.370 off the pace of reigning World Champion Stoner.

One place and 0.130 further back was Edwards as Yamaha's improved 2008 YZR-M1 occupied three of the top four places on the combined timesheets.

Combined Free Practice Times

1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro - 1:55.442; 2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team - 1:55.453; 3. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha - 1:55.812; 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha - 1:55.942; 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP - 1:55.963; 6. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini - 1:56.120; 7. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP - 1:56.234; 8. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team - 1:56.269; 9. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki - 1:56.279; 10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda - 1:56.478; 11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 1:56.922; 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini - 1:57.011; 13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda - 1:57.045; 14. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing - 1:57.085; 15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro - 1:57.091; 16. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team - 1:57.311; 17. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing - 1:57.934; 18. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team - 1:58.500