Silverstone (Great Britain), 30th August 2013
Defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo made a strong start to this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone in today’s two free practice sessions. The Mallorcan wrapped up day one as the fastest rider overall, 0.224 seconds clear of closest rival Marc Marquez. His fastest time of 2’02.734 seconds takes him underneath the fastest race lap of last year’s Grand Prix, set by himself. Lorenzo led the entire second session and completed the morning practice in second, 0.219 seconds behind Marquez.
Valentino Rossi made big steps forward over the course of today. The Italian nine-time world champion was 0.866 seconds off the fastest lap in the morning session in sixth place with a 2’04.682 lap. Some hard work over the day saw him improve by over a second to complete the afternoon practice in fifth with a 2’03.480 second lap.
Jorge Lorenzo 1st / 2’02.734 / 18 laps
“I started very fast because I improved almost one second and a half in the beginning; I was surprised with the improvement. At this track, when the rear tyre starts to drop it’s very difficult to keep the same pace so we have to work hard to make a constant bike that works over long distance. I’m satisfied because I think we have the possibility to fight for the victory this time.”
Valentino Rossi 5th / 2’03.480 / 18 laps
“I enjoyed today a lot, this track is great. If you are able to ride at the limit and have a good feeling with the bike, it’s very funny because it’s very fast, the track is so wide you go a lot of time at full throttle. I’m quite happy with the first day, especially because in the last two years I suffered a lot here in Silverstone. We made a good step, but we still have to work to find the right setting to have a good balance form the beginning to the end of the race. I’m not so bad in braking and entry but I have some problems in other areas so we have to work. We modified the setting from Brno because in the last two races I wasn’t strong enough.”
“A very good first day. First of all because the weather is very stable and it’s a nice temperature compared with last year which helps the lap times. The pace is already there so it looks like we have to make some small adjustments but the bike feels good and we are looking forward to qualifying tomorrow.”
Massimo Meregalli Team Director
“After a few Grand Prix we start this weekend in a really different way. We have been really fast since the beginning and the most important thing is the pace is really good. Both riders are quite satisfied with their set up, we know that we have to improve and we know which area to do it in. We also tested both tyre choices so we have completed a lot of work. We are pretty focused and we are very optimistic about the race.”
Jorge Lorenzo (SPA)
Valentino Rossi (ITA)
ASC - Action Sports Connection 