Lorenzo takes control in early Saturday run

Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo will go in search of his third pole position of 2009 on Saturday afternoon at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya having topped the Free Practice 2 timesheet by a significant 0.674s margin.

With the air temperature already at 30°C and the ground temperature up to 37°C by 11am Lorenzo turned up the heat on his rivals with a superb 1’41.899 lap on the 27th of his 29 laps, well over a second faster than Friday’s best times. After the session Lorenzo declared himself more than happy with his rhythm on race tyres and the softer options he used to mark his pace-setting lap.

Second fastest was an improved Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), whilst in third place Lorenzo’s World Champion team-mate Valentino Rossi was nearly a second off the pace – albeit on race tyres.

Taking a big step forward ahead of his home race tomorrow – and following a slow start on Friday – Dani Pedrosa reduced his day one best lap by two seconds to place fourth, having taken on more painkillers before the session in his injured hip.

LCR Honda’s French star Randy de Puniet was fifth fastest again at one of his preferred venues, marginally quicker than veteran American Colin Edwards of the Monster Yahama Tech 3 team.

Whilst Edwards’ Tech 3 colleague James Toseland will be pleased to have lapped eighth fastest with around a second cut from his Friday pace, Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner slipped down to seventh as he could only improve slightly on his FP1 best effort.

Ducati riders Niccolò Canepa and Nicky Hayden completed the top ten.