Jorge Lorenzo crashes on Bridgestone debut

Jorge Lorenzo’s Bridgestone debut ended with a small crash as the Spaniard finished seventh quickest on the first day of winter testing in Valencia yesterday.

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The double world 250 champion clocked a best time of 1.33.550 in his 44-lap stint, but his day was marred by a tumble at Turn 12.

Lorenzo, who was also evaluating some new 2009 YZR-M1 parts, said: “I am really happy because now everyone has the same tyres. I tried a test bike with some new parts and today we were just working on collecting information and understanding the new things.

“I think it was a good day and I made some good laps, so I am quite happy. I had a crash in the afternoon, which was my mistake, it was at turn twelve and I opened the throttle too much when the tyre was cold, but I was not hurt and we were able to continue.

“We need more time to be able to understand the tyres and evaluate them properly. There is a long time before the new season but I am excited that we have started work already.”