Lorenzo began his third test with Yamaha today, his final test before he becomes an official Fiat Yamaha Team rider in January.

Having tested recently in Malaysia, the 20-year-old Spaniard finds himself a little closer to home this time and in somewhat cooler temperatures, at the Andalucian circuit of Jerez.

Lorenzo and his team picked up from where they left off in Sepang, continuing to work on general set-up as the 250cc World Champion becomes better adapted to the demands of an 800cc MotoGP bike and his new Michelin tyres. Lorenzo’s aim for this test is to get as many kilometres under his belt as possible and he started well today, completing 91 laps and setting the seventh best time of 1’41.230. The best time of the day was set by Casey Stoner, with a lap of 1’40.221 while Lorenzo’s 2008 team-mate Valentino Rossi was third with a time of 1’40.514.

Jorge Lorenzo (7th, 1’41.230, 91 laps)
“Today I felt much better on the bike than I did in Sepang. I feel more comfortable with the bike every time I ride it and for sure it feels more like a part of me now. I am really looking forward to improving again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Today I rode 91 laps, so I really made the most of the day, and I will continue to work tomorrow to improve again. The more kilometres I ride, the better it is for me and for my team, and I want to give them all the information I can in order to improve as much as we can over these winter tests.”

Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
“Today with Jorge we confirmed the set-up we found in Sepang and we also confirmed the new bike geometry we tested there. This helps us to check that we are working in the correct direction. Today we also found a new riding position for Jorge; we put a new spacer on the tank and it seems to work perfetly. He feels better and better on the bike all the time. He rode 91 laps, which is a huge effort, both from him and from our staff members (who I want to thank!) He kept a high level of concentration throughout the whole day, and he was therefore able to give us the maximum in terms of information, feeling and comment. Tomorrow we will work on the set-up again and hopefully we will be able to confirm today’s modifications.”

Lap Times

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’40.221
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’40.355
3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’40.514
4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’40.790
5. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’40.923
6. Alex de Angelis (Honda) 1’41.111
7. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’41,230
8. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1’41.277
9. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 1’41.313
10. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1’41.414
11. James Toselad (Yamaha) 1’41.776
12. Marco Melandri (Ducati) 1’41.889
13. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1.42.033
14. Nicolo Canepa (Ducati) 1’42.666
15. Tadayuki Okada (Honda) 1’43.051
16. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 1’43.576
17. Shinichi Ito (Bridgestone) 1’44.530
18. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati) 1.44.588