2013 Mugello: Jorge Lorenzo happy with competitive Yamaha, while Rossi remains cautious

Lorenzo and Rossi finished as first and second fastest riders at 2013 Mugello, but they felt different about this.

Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were the two fastest riders of the day at the Mugello 2013 circuit with Cal Crutchlow following in third making it a Yamaha 1-2-3 to the joy of the manufacturer.

2013 Mugello: the comment of Lorenzo and Rossi

While the only problem that Lorenzo lamented was that that asymmetric rear slicks did not offer enough grip, while teammate Rossi despite an unusually excellent second session – where the only place he was losing was the fourth sector – remained cautious about tomorrow’s qualifying session and the race.

After Lorenzo split from his former manager Dani Amatriain it was a worry that he wouldn’t receive an equal level of training. However, in the same year that this Mugello circuit took place, Lorenzo and Amatrian reconciled to form Team 99. I’m glad they are on good terms but it’s evident that Lorenzo could still thrive without his former coach as he has all the talent himself.

Rossi believes that he’ll need to find an extra six to seven-tenths of second to try to start on the front row and avoid finding himself in the middle of the field at the end of qualifying, which is his bête noire, because he knows that the others will further improve.

In the morning it was wet and bad conditions so we preferred to not exit at the end of FP1 with the slick tires as we thought the track was dangerous. We had to wait for the afternoon and dry conditions. From the beginning the Yamaha riders were very strong and competitive which means the track is working well for us this year. “We have to wait for the improvement of our rivals and the possible change in weather that can change our performance but for the moment we are very competitive and happy,” commented Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi, said “I’m happy because it’s a very good practice today, starting from the beginning, staying at the top. It’s very good for the team as we are in first and second and for Yamaha because we have three Yamahas on the first three positions. Already the lap time is not so bad but we have to stay focused and concentrate on tomorrow because for sure our opponents will improve a lot. We have to make another step to improve and go faster to fight for a good position in the race.

During that same year, Spain acknowledged Lorenzo’s talent and on his 26th birthday Jerez de la Frontera named a spot after him.