Movistar Yamaha's Lorenzo 2nd, Rossi 6th in MotoGP Qualifying in Argentina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Grand Prix of Argentina First Front Row of 2014 for Lorenzo in Argentina 14:35 Local time GMT-3 Sunny Air 25°C Track 36°C Humidity 46%
	Pictures for editorial use only - Copyrights 2014 Yamaha Motor Racing Srl Full photo gallery
	Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina), 26th April 2014 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo scored his first front row start of the season today, taking second in qualifying for tomorrow’s Gran Premio de la República Argentina at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. Teammate Valentino Rossi took a second row start with sixth place. In an unusual move Lorenzo was the last to exit the pit lane today in qualifying, waiting for the pack to go before hitting the track in quiet space. The Mallorcan chose to go out with the harder option rear tyre for the first time attack, using it to score a best time of 1’39.248 to take fourth in the provisional standings. Lorenzo then returned to the pits to switch to the medium, softer option rear tyre and was back on track with five minutes remaining in fifth place. The softer tyre was the key to a front row, helping him to jump three places further up to second, securing his first front row start of the season with a 1’38.425 second lap. Rossi also took his time to leave the pits for the qualifying session, exiting just before Lorenzo as second to last on track. The nine-time world champion got straight down to business, scoring a temporary fifth place on his first flying lap with a 1’39.421. A second flying lap saw him then enter the pits for fresh rubber 1.132 seconds from first with a 1’39.359. With just over five minutes remaining he was back out and breaking under the 1’39 mark. Rossi scored his session best on the sixth lap with a 1’38.949 to take sixth on the grid on the second row.
	Jorge Lorenzo 2nd / 1'38.425 / 7 laps “We are trying to solve every challenge we can to be as competitive as possible. Today we made a small modification before the qualifying practice that proved to be good. It was better entering the corner and also gave us more traction so I could be a bit faster. I pushed at the maximum with the soft tyre to make a fast lap time and was able to make it. We are trying our best to be as competitive as possible and take the maximum so we are satisfied with the result.” Profile
	Valentino Rossi 6th / 1'38.949 / 8 laps “I am happy about today, it was a good practice. This morning we improved a lot the bike and this afternoon I had a good pace and was quite constant. Unfortunately I wanted to make it better in the fastest lap but I was not able to make the last 10%. I am in the second row that is quite good, we have to work and decide the tyres but I have a good feeling. We will see tomorrow.” Profile
	Massimo Meregalli “Our situation is getting better. Once the circuit improved grip we automatically got faster. Combined with this we have also made big improvements to the setting and the track knowledge of the riders has improved. Now we are trying to find something else on both sides of the garage for the warm up where we can test it to be ready to start the race. Jorge delivered a really strong performance in qualifying; he showed what he is capable of with a great flying lap for second place. Vale did well and the second row is a good place to start for tomorrow’s race. We know his pace is good so we are confident he will be competitive and with the front guys. We expect to improve for tomorrow and we don’t expect the tyres to be an issue. We have our eyes firmly set on the podium.”
	NOTES
	The extended imagery from today's Qualifying session at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo is available on www.yamahamotogp.com.
	QUALIFYING RESULTS
	FRONT ROW 1. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'37.683 2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'38.425 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'38.651 SECOND ROW 4. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1'38.794 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1'38.856 6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'38.949 THIRD ROW 7. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'38.958 8. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing 1'39.237 9. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'39.297 FOURTH ROW 10. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'39.429 11. Pol Espargarò (SPA) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'39.822 12. Scott Redding (GBR) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'40.238 FIFTH ROW 13. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1'40.476 14. Nicky Hayden (USA) Drive M7 Aspar 1'40.541 15. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing 1'40.615 SIXTH ROW 16. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Drive M7 Aspar 1'40.616 17. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 1'40.691 18. Brok Parkes (AUS) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'40.981 SEVENTH ROW 19. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ducati Team 1'41.018 20. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'41.103 21. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Racing 1'41.129 EIGHTH ROW 22. Mike Di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Racing 1'41.267 23. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Came Iodaracing Project 1'41.686
	CIRCUIT INFORMATION
	Technical Informations Circuit Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo Location Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina Length (m) 4.806 Width (m) 16 Turns 14 Turns righ 9 Turns left 5 Pole position left Record Lap Time New Circuit Rider New Circuit Bike New Circuit Year Best Lap Time 1'37.683 Rider M.Marquez Bike Honda Year 2014
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