US MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo thrilled with second

Jorge Lorenzo was thrilled with his fast start to the American MotoGP weekend, despite a late attack from Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi denying him top spot in first practice.

The Spaniard’s best time of 1.22.093 looked to have been good enough the best time when Rossi’s posted a 1.21.981 on his last lap to relegate Lorenzo to second.

The double world 250 champion though was still delighted with his pace, particularly after his last memory of Laguna Seca was a painful one having crashed heavily on the opening lap in 2008.

“I feel great, “beamed the 22-year-old. “I know that this is a very complicated circuit to get used to and that you have to make a lot of laps to learn it, but I did have some time on it last year and I feel great here now.

“Today I stopped after a few laps and changed the tyre to the harder Bridgestone one and then I felt even better; I was having a lot of fun riding the bike and I was able to do more or less race distance with consistent lap times.

“I improved one second in only one practice because last year the best time I did with race tyres was 23.0 and today I did 22.0. One second of improvement makes me very happy and I think we have options to get the podium at least.

“Then we will try to improve some tenths to try to win, but it will be difficult. If I can win, I will try. But if I have to finish third or fourth, I will do, it’s no problem. The important thing is the championship.