~ Auto Buzz ~: MotoGP: Round #5 Movistar Yamaha Free Practice Report

Movistar Yamaha Press Release: After wrapping up the weekend in Jerez with a successful day of testing two weeks ago, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo was again on the pace today, leading most of the second free practice session to ultimately finish in second place. Teammate Valentino Rossi had a less fortunate first day, but persisted to work hard on his setting for Sunday‘s Monster Energy Grand Prix de France and ended the day in sixth position. Lorenzo gradually improved his lap times in the cooler morning session as he focused on his set-up, clocking the third fastest time, a 1'34.301, on his final lap. The setting he found for his YZR-M1 proved to be a good basis to build on in the afternoon session. The Spaniard only took a couple of minutes to top the timesheets with a hot lap of 1‘33.369 and led most of the session, only to get pushed to second place in the final stages. Rossi also made strides today. He booked progress throughout FP1 and finished in seventh place with a 1'34.570 lap. Despite the wind having picked up in the afternoon, keeping the temperatures cool, the nine-time World Champion was still able to further improve his pace in FP2. Having found his rhythm at the end of the session, he was riding laps under the 1‘34 mark and climbed to sixth place in the order. Today‘s results see Lorenzo take second place in the combined times, 0.190s off the fastest time, and Rossi in sixth, 0.507s from the front.

JORGE LORENZO #99 The first day was good because we finished third in the morning and second in the afternoon, these are good positions. I think we don‘t have the best set-up yet for this track, but we‘ve still been competitive. I believe we have some margin for tomorrow, especially to improve the pace. We are still trying different settings to see which one is better. It will be very important to put the bike together correctly and not drop the pace too much during the race.

VALENTINO ROSSI #46: We worked with the tires and got some good information. The morning session was more difficult but in the afternoon we improved. At the end, I rode a good lap time and also my pace is quite good. We have to work on section one and three, I‘m not fast enough, but the feeling with the bike is not so bad and it looks like we can improve, if we work in a good way. I tried both tires and I also liked the harder one. I think it can be a good option for the race, but it will depend on the temperature and conditions. MASSIMO MEREGALLI - TEAM DIRECTOR: It was a good start for Jorge today, he has been fast and consistent since the first session. Vale found a good feeling with his bike at the end of the second session and was able to improve his lap time and his rhythm. We still have a lot of work to do, and we‘re confident we can make another step for qualifying. We have to spend some more time on deciding on a race tire, but we‘re heading in the right direction for Sunday‘s race. MOTOGP ROUND #5 - LE MANS - FREE PRACTICE (COMBINED RESULTS) 1. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'33.179 2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'33.369 3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1'33.553 4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) CWM LCR Honda 1'33.652 5. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'33.670 6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'33.686 7. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'33.725 8. Pol Espargarò (SPA) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'33.903 9. Aleix Espargarò (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP 1'33.944 10. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Pramac Racing 1'33.953 11. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Ducati Team 1'34.092 12. Maverick Viñales (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP 1'34.110 13. Jack Miller (AUS) CWM LCR Honda 1'34.253 14. Scott Redding (GBR) Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS 1'34.371 15. Stefan Bradl (GER) Forward Racing 1'34.543 16. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Pramac Racing 1'34.568 17. Nicky Hayden (USA) Aspar Team MotoGP 1'34.663 18. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Racing 1'34.745 19. Loris Baz (FRA) Forward Racing 1'35.002 20. Mike Di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Racing 1'35.067 21. Karel Abraham (CZE) AB Motoracing 1'35.090 22. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1'35.137 23. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aspar Team MotoGP 1'35.182 24. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Octo IodaRacing Team 1'35.802 25. Marco Melandri (ITA) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1'36.056

Vale and Jorge thank all #YamahaMotoGP fans: