Lorenzo tops both sessions in Mugello Friday practice

Last year’s Italian Grand Prix winner Jorge Lorenzo took over from where he left off at Mugello after the Yamaha Factory Racing rider topped both Friday practice sessions.
 
Lorenzo’s best time of 1:48.076 fell just short of last year’s pole position time yet was enough to edge Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa into second place by three hundredths of a second, while Nicky Hayden gave cause for the Ducatisti to cheer by finishing third fastest on Friday and just eight hundredths of a second off the pace.
 
Both practice sessions today took place in warm and dry conditions with a peak track temperature of 47°C in FP2 and riders took advantage of the dry track time to test both the regular and special construction rear tyres available at Mugello this weekend. Some riders were undertaking race simulations  on the hard compound rear tyre in FP2 before a red flag halfway through the session brought a halt to proceedings, and further testing of both the regular and special construction rear slicks is planned for tomorrow. As Mugello features the hardest braking zone on the calendar at the entry to San Donato, most riders opted for the greater stability of the harder front slick for today’s practice sessions.
 
MotoGP action returns to Mugello from 1010 local time (GMT +2) for Free Practice 3 with qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix kicking off at 1355.
 
Shinji Aoki - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
 
“We had typical Mugello conditions today with hot and dry weather causing track temperatures to reach almost 50°C though as is usual for Friday, grip levels for FP1 were not the best but improved throughout the day as more rubber was laid down on the circuit. Some riders tested the special construction rear tyre we brought to Mugello and the feedback was encouraging, with a negligible difference in feel compared to the regular construction rear slick and some of the riders also managed to set their fastest lap of the day on this special construction rear tyre. Testing of both the regular and special construction will continue tomorrow in what should be very similar track conditions and for the front tyre, the harder front slick was widely used today and I expect this option to be the popular choice both for qualifying and the race. With the extra power of the 1000cc machines down Mugello’s long straight, it is looking very likely that both the top speed and pole position records for this circuit will be surpassed tomorrow during qualifying.”