Lorenzo happy with “good start”

The competition and rivalry between Fiat Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi looks set to continue form the off in the 2010 MotoGP World Championship, with just two-thousandths of a second separating the pair in the opening practice session in Qatar on Friday evening.

Despite concerns over the potential lasting effects of a pre-season hand injury Lorenzo set the second quickest time of the session behind Casey Stoner, and although he had a late crash the Spaniard ended the hour-long practice extremely pleased with how things had gone.

"I'm quite happy about tonight and about my hand; I tried riding for the first time without the extra hand protection and I was okay,” said Lorenzo, who recorded a time of 1’56.026. “I felt good on the bike and my thumb didn't really hurt, it was a lot better than at the test.”

Last year’s Championship runner-up continued: “We still have a few things on the bike that we need to work on but we have made a good start. It was a pity I crashed, I was pushing hard at the time and I just made a small mistake, touching the white line; these things happen and luckily I didn't hurt myself. Tomorrow we'll continue our work and try to improve more."