MotoGP
US GP: Yamaha qualifying report
LORENZO TAKES FANTASTIC FIFTH POLE, ROSSI ON SECOND ROW IN LAGUNA Jorge Lorenzo took an impressive fifth consecutive pole at Laguna Seca today, the 40th of his career across all classes. His recovering Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi ...
Published: Jul 25, 2010, 5:43 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
LORENZO TAKES FANTASTIC FIFTH POLE, ROSSI ON SECOND ROW IN LAGUNA
Jorge Lorenzo took an impressive fifth consecutive pole at Laguna Seca today, the 40th of his career across all classes. His recovering Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi continued to struggle a little with the physical demands of the American track and will start from sixth tomorrow.
Lorenzo, who also took pole at this race last year, was fastest in this morning's free practice and looked in sublime form from the start of the qualifying session, moving to the top after just a few laps. He spent the middle part of the session fine-tuning the setting of his M1 ahead of tomorrow's race and relinquished the top spot for some time, before turning his attention back to lap times with eight minutes remaining and retaking the lead. His only real challenger for pole was Casey Stoner, who edged the Mallorcan back into second with four minutes remaining but the championship-leader produced a stunning display on his penultimate lap to better the Australian's time by 0.191 seconds and take his fifth pole in a row.
Laguna Seca is proving less forgiving to Rossi on his return from injury than Sachsenring was last week and the World Champion struggled physically around the 3610m track today. The biggest problem for him this afternoon was in the shoulder he injured back in April, in which he still lacks power and suffers in the hard braking areas. That said the Italian is confident that some small changes in tomorrow's warm-up can help him to find a few more tenths and he will do all he can to race competitively in tomorrow's 32-lap race.
Jorge Lorenzo
"Pole position isn't the race but it does help so I'm really happy to have got this fifth pole. Everyone is working very well and this shows it once again. I didn't think it would be possible today because Casey was so fast but I decided to give it a try and pushed as hard as I could and here we are! I don't know what to expect tomorrow, it will be a hard race for sure because Dani and Casey are very strong, but we will do the best we can to fight to the end and at least make the podium. I'm excited because it's always a special race here with a great atmosphere."
Valentino Rossi
"We didn't go too badly today but we need to improve our setting a little bit to get closer to the leaders. Lorenzo and Stoner are very fast but after that there are a few riders quite close together, including me, so it's not too bad. I think it's going to be very difficult tomorrow because this track is a lot harder for me than Sachsenring, but I hope I can do a good race. There are a few corners where we know we can be a bit faster so tomorrow morning we will try to make some small changes to the setting to allow that, then I need to get a good start. My leg feels better than yesterday, which is good, the problem today is the shoulder because my left one isn't strong enough to compensate completely for the lack of power in my right one and now I have some pain in both! My hope for tomorrow is to be able to finish the race without too much pain and to do the best we can in the circumstances."
Wilco Zeelenberg
"Earlier on this season I said maybe it was better if Jorge wasn't on pole because it was less pressure that way, but now we have had five in a row and I have to say that we're very happy! He was very comfortable out there today and our bike is working very well, so at the end of the session he decided to go for the pole. That last lap of his was incredible; I don't think we expected him to be that fast! It's going to be very close tomorrow and it's a long race, we expect a big battle but we will do our best to be on the podium."
Davide brivio
"We still have some work to do before the race but I think we're in better shape than it looks! We need to find some small improvements and then we need to decide about the tyres for tomorrow. The pace isn't too bad but to really be in the race we need to find a couple more tenths. This track is quite hard on Valentino's body and at the end of the practice he was suffering with his shoulder especially; it's nore demanding than Sachsenring. It's going to be difficult for him to finish the whole race tomorrow in top form but we have to remember that this is our second 'recovery' race and all things considered it's going okay."
-source: yamaha
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article US GP: Suzuki qualifying report
Next article US GP: Gresini Racing race report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jorge Lorenzo
Jorge Lorenzo: Marc Marquez less explosive now, but smarter than ever
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
Jorge Lorenzo: Marc Marquez less explosive now, but smarter than ever
Maverick Vinales and Jorge Lorenzo's partnership cools down after early enthusiasm
MotoGP
MotoGP
Brazil GP
Maverick Vinales and Jorge Lorenzo's partnership cools down after early enthusiasm
How Jorge Lorenzo is pushing Maverick Vinales beyond his limits in MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing launch
How Jorge Lorenzo is pushing Maverick Vinales beyond his limits in MotoGP
Latest news
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 19 min
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 16 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: ECR
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
16 h
Toto Wolff reflects on Mercedes’ non-title years: ‘We weren’t complete losers’
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 17 h
Renger van der Zande moves to IMSA’s LMP2 class full-time with Tower Motorsports
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe