Moto GP ; Lorenzo laments braking and spinning issues, while Rossi wants a podium at Misano

There was nothing that Jorge Lorenzo could do to stop Marc Marquez from taking an ‘unbelievable’ pole position at Misano this afternoon.

The Yamaha rider who is lamenting braking and spinning issues on his M1 despite the new seamless gearbox couldn’t bridge the 0.513s gap to the record breaking Repsol Honda rider, but he believes that Marquez’ pace is slightly different than a single hot lap.

“I can be happy with second, but we are quite far from pole. Marc did an unbelievable lap and we couldn’t even be close to him. I expected to struggle less this weekend and go faster than last year but I couldn’t be faster and I couldn’t improve the bike so much. We are struggling to stop the bike in braking and we have more spinning than normal in acceleration – that is why the lap time is not great,” said Lorenzo.

“We will keep trying to change the bike and tomorrow we have the last change in the warm-up. But anyway even with the feeling now we are second with quite good pace and the seamless is good news for us.It was a pity not to have it at Indianapolis, Brno and Silverstone, because I think at the moment - maybe we will improve tomorrow - we were more competitive than here. But now is the time to have it and we will try to improve it from this race. I will try to make a good start tomorrow and maybe the best strategy is to follow Marc and see how our performance is during the race.”

If his team mate is lamenting problems Valentino Rossi for the first time isn’t, and is hailing his M1 as ‘fantastic’ following his qualifying in third. Rossi hasn’t been on the podium since Laguna Seca and now he wants a podium at Misano, in front of all his friends and family.

“I am very happy, very satisfied with yesterday and today because we worked very well during the practice, I was always strong and we improved the setting step by step,” said Rossi. “This afternoon my bike was fantastic; it had a great setting with a lot of grip. With the second tyre I was alone with no traffic and I pushed very much from the first corner with a great feeling with the bike and I improved my lap time a lot.

“I’m so happy because it’s very important to start on the front row tomorrow, because Marc and Dani are very fast and also Lorenzo is very strong and very fast. Tomorrow I want to arrive on the podium so starting with them from the beginning is very important, to go with them in the first laps, and fight for it. I want a great race and I want to be on the podium.”

Rossi praised the new gearbox again that is making riding more easy.

“It’s great to ride with the seamless, it is a lot more easy and a lot more precise. It will help especially for the race, 28 laps, because it is less demanding to ride. But it is not just the gearbox, it is also the track - for me it is important to make a good result and I’m always strong here at Misano.

The Italian unveiled a special helmet on this morning. The graphics were more serious than usual and Rossi said it was dedicated to ‘Sic’ [Marco Simoncell] and to the Misano circuit that is dedicated to the late rider. Rossi said he chose the Pink Floyd, “I wish you were here” because he listens to it often and it reminds him of Marco.

from TWOWHEELSBLOG