Rossi confident of improvement whilst Lorenzo learns

Left behind by a storming Casey Stoner on the opening day of practice at Laguna Seca, Valentino Rossi is nonetheless confident about his chances of accessing the untapped potential of the Fiat Yamaha M1 in his pursuit of his title rival. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo, meanwhile, has set about the task of learning the unique circuit on his first on-track appearance in America.

Valentino Rossi – Third

`We started quite well this morning and we were quite fast from the start. We used our standard base setting and it seemed to work quite well here, and I think that in fact I could have gone faster this morning but in my last run my grip wasn´t perfect so I slowed down. This morning I was quite happy but this afternoon we tried to modify something in the set-up of the bike, because we´re still looking for the ideal configuration for this track, and it wasn´t as good as we had hoped. Now we must put the best things of each session together and then I believe we will be able to be some tenths faster tomorrow. We have a good potential here and I know we haven´t reached it yet; we need to do some work on the suspension but the Bridgestones are good which is encouraging. I am looking forward to making more progress tomorrow and closing the gap to Stoner´

Jorge Lorenzo – Thirteenth

`The first laps here in Laguna Seca this morning were incredible for me and I had great fun learning the track. On my first lap I was very lucky at the Corkscrew because Nicky Hayden was in front and he knows this track very well, so I followed him and I came out alive! It´s very different to anywhere else we go and very complicated, so I am trying to take it gently until I am sure of my lines. For me the hardest part is the first corner, but I felt better about it this afternoon. I had some problems with my rear tyre, we don´t have enough grip, and I also need more confidence in the front of the bike. I think I need to do some more laps here in order to have more feeling and knowledge about the track and the right lines. I´ve been looking at the Superbike times and they're doing almost the same times as me, so I know I have some work to do. We have some issues but we´re working hard towards being faster tomorrow. I´ve enjoyed my first day here.´