Zoom Jorge Lorenzo

Heavy rain greeted the Fiat Yamaha Team as they began their home race at Mugello today, but it was a promising day nonetheless for their 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 but today was only his 99th Friday session as he did not turn 15 until the Saturday of his first ever race, the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix, and was therefore unable to take part in the opening day's practices.

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 this morning however he took it easy and refrained from taking any risks, finishing the session in 14th.

With the track fully wet this 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 tyres 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 this afternoon, although with times this morning having been faster on the drier track he remains 14th in the combined standings.

His team-mate and the home favourite Valentino Rossi was slightly faster than him in both sessions, finishing tenth this morning and fourth in the wet this afternoon. Better weather is now forecast for the next two days so tomorrow will mean a new start for everyone in hopefully much drier conditions.

Jorge Lorenzo
“Today I am actually very happy because we were quite fast in the rain! 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. We tried some new Michelin rain tyres and it seems they're very good, so I'm happy about this. Now though I hope it's going to be dry because it is easier like this and also it means the race will be shorter, which I prefer while I am still not physically at 100%.”