A second day of testing for Jorge Lorenzo with the Fiat Yamaha Team in Valencia today saw the double 250cc World Champion making solid progress throughout, as he gradually got to grips with his new bike.

The 20-year old Spaniard, who will officially join the team in January as team-mate to Valentino Rossi, completed an impressive total of 86 laps on a 2008 prototype YZR-M1 and his times improved constantly, as he gradually gained more confidence in his new machine.

Lorenzo’s best time of the day came on a qualifying tyre, a lap of 1’32.68 putting him sixth in the unofficial standings. His best lap on a race tyre, a time of 1’33.57, was nearly a second faster than his best lap yesterday and for the second day running he was the fastest of the three MotoGP rookies, all of whom are joining the premier class from the quarter-litre category. Lorenzo will work with his his new tegain next week in Malaysia, for a three-day test in Sepang.

Jorge Lorenzo (6th, 1’32.68, 86 Laps)
“Obviously I’m feeling much more comfortable and relaxed on the bike than I did yesterday, when everything felt very new! It’s been good to have a full day to really concentrate on getting used to the bike and I’ve been feeling better and better throughout the day. The set-up we used today was more or less the same as yesterday, but today we worked mostly on tyres, because these are also new for me. I’m happy with what we’ve done at this first test and I very am pleased to be here. Now I am looking forward to next week when we will go to Malaysia and I will have another chance to learn more about the bike.”

Daniele Romagnoli – Jorge Lorenzo’s Team Manager
“We started today with yesterday’s setting and a reference tyre, just to check what we found yesterday. Thnw egan to work a bit with tyres, mainly rear, and we found some improvements. His riding is improving as he gains more confidence on the bike and the lap times are already quite good. We have seen him learn a lot about the MotoGP bike in just one and a half days and he’s made some very good progress. It’s been a good first test for him and now we will keep going like this next week in Malaysia.”

Masahiko Nakajima – Fiat Yamaha Team Director
“Today we made some changes to the set-up and especially to the suspension, and these small changes together have made Jorge more comfortable. His lap times today have been very consistent and have gradually got faster, without making any steps backward, and this is very encouraging. Although a MotoGP bike is very new to him and he is only just beginning to learn about it, his lap times and data show he is adapting quickly and that the changes we have made are improving things for him. This is th fedac we need at this stage. His hard work over these two days has been much appreciated and we’re very happy.”

Unofficial Lap Times
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’32.09
2. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’32.45
3. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 1’32.63
4. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1’32.64
5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’32.67
6. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’32.68
7. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 1’33.05
8. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1’33.05
9. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1’33.09
10. Toni Elias (Ducati) 1’33.20
11. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1’33.61
12. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 1’33.72
12. Marco Melandri (Ducati) 1’34.433
13. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1.34.00
14. Alex de Angelis (Honda) 1’34.13