Rossi and Lorenzo explain poor Brno qualifying

Factory Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo have explained their troubles after being easily outgunned by British rider Cal Crutchlow in today’s qualifying session at the Brno track.

Rossi will start tomorrow’s 22-lap race from a lowly seventh, the nine-times world champion the slowest Yamaha, with rookie Bradley Smith finishing 0.172s clear to claim the final spot on the second row of the grid.

Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo only performed marginally better and his best lap of 1.55.949 left him down in fifth but over 0.4s adrift of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Crutchlow.

The Spaniard is also no longer the fastest man in history at the Brno track after Crutchlow delivered a stunning best lap of 1.55.527 to secure his second pole position of 2013.

Explaining his failure to mount a stronger challenge for pole position, Lorenzo said: “We tried a different set-up but it was worse. We had some electronics problems that dropped the grip too much in the rear, so we changed back to the normal set-up and electronics and it was better but it didn’t feel the same as in the morning. That’s why I finished fifth and so far behind Cal.”

Lorenzo’s race pace is certainly not far off putting him contention for a much-needed win tomorrow, with the Yamaha star desperate to stop the purple patch of form rookie Marc Marquez is currently in.

Marquez has won the last three races in a row and will start from third and Lorenzo added: “In dry conditions I am not so bad for pace but I am starting in the second row, so it will be important to overtake the riders who are in front in the first two laps if possible. It is a long race, so a strategy to try and go away in the first two laps is maybe impossible. Maybe I can follow the Hondas.”

Rossi was perplexed by his failure to make the second row for the seventh time in 11 races, as he was unable to improve his pace in the crucial 15-minute session.
Rossi, who won his first ever GP in Brno way back in the 1996 125cc clash, said: “I am not happy about my position because like in other races the other guys are able to improve their lap times in the 15 minute session.

I have to start from the third row but I think my potential is higher. I was always in the top four and five in practice.  The others were better than me and somebody was in the slipstream and they did a better job. The 55.5 by Cal was a great lap and also Bradley did a very good job today.  Now we have to make small changes to improve corner entry and I expect to be competitive in the race.  The positive thing is that the people who make the first lap very fast, especially Jorge and Pedrosa, are on the second row, but Cal and Alvaro (Bautista) are ahead of them. To start from seventh is more difficult but I can do a good race.”

Rossi blamed a lack of confidence in the braking zone for his failure to lower his lap times like his rival’s can in QP2.

He added: “I am in trouble with the braking. The other guys, especially Cal, are able to improve more than me. When they have to make the lap time the other guys are able to brake deeper than me. I am on the limit in braking. On the data the difference is just in braking and this is the problem. The race is still open for me because this track has a lot of places to overtake and I feel good with my race pace.

For sure it is easier to start in the first row but here it is important for this race that the strong guys like Crutchlow and Bautista start ahead of the others, so the first lap will be important, but I think I can make a good race.”