Great start for Fiat Yamaha at Catalunya circuit

World Champion Valentino Rossi and his young team-mate Jorge Lorenzo were the top dogs in the opening practice session of the weekend at Montmeló on Friday, holding the top two spots between them for the entire 45-minute practice.

It was eventually the Italian who topped the timesheet with his Spanish colleague just three tenths behind him, leaving the factory Yamaha duo looking in fine form at round six.

Valentino Rossi – 1st

“We made some changes to our base setting here and already it feels much better to ride. This practice went very well for us, we were strong from start to finish and to be in first position feels good. We have found out some very interesting things, especially about my feeling with the bike, but we need to keep on working because there are still some parts that we want to make better for tomorrow. I am really happy to be able to ride the bike how I want to finally but there is still plenty more work to continue with to make sure we’re in the best possible shape for tomorrow afternoon and Sunday.”

Jorge Lorenzo – 2nd

“I always have a few doubts coming to each new track but today everything felt really good, my bike and my Bridgestone tyres. I feel very comfortable and we can see that we have the potential to put on a really good performance here. We have a few things which we can improve so we will try to do that tomorrow but this is another good start for us. It’s very early to be making any conclusions about who will be fighting on Sunday though and for now we just have to stay focused. It feels great to be out in front of all my home fans here and I am really happy to have the FC Barcelona stickers on my bike!”