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Lorenzo shines in first night of practice

Fiat Yamaha's young new recruit Jorge Lorenzo heralded his arrival into MotoGP in Qatar with an impressive performance on the opening night of his first ever premier-class Grand Prix. With the first race of the season taking place under floodlights in somewhat cooler temperatures than the riders have been used to at the desert track in previous years, it was an interesting first 'day' of the season but Lorenzo was unfazed by the conditions and finished in second place overall behind Casey Stoner.

This evening's first free practice saw the youngest rider on the grid picking up exactly where he left off at last week's test, quickly finding his rhythm and lapping consistently fast to finish the session in second. Tonight's later practice saw more of the same as Lorenzo and his team worked on perfecting their set-up and, later on, testing a few Michelin tyres. Valentino Rossi meanwhile was slightly slower than his team-mate, finishing the night eighth in the combined standings.

"I'm happy tonight because we started working from where we left off at the test and things were very good again," said Lorenzo. "Honestly though I didn't really expect to be second on my very first day at a MotoGP race! The track seems dirtier because the wind has been blowing the sand on to it lately, so I think that tomorrow, once the bikes have cleaned it a bit, it will be better and we will be able to push more. I am completely comfortable with the light situation and I'm not even thinking anymore about the fact that we're riding at night, it seems normal. We're still lacking a bit of feeling in the front and need a bit more grip, but things are improving step by step. We've tried a few different tyres and it seems that the Michelin's are working well here; overall I'm feeling good and I'm very pleased with my pace. Despite my position tonight, I'm not thinking about the result at all, I just want to concentrate on doing the best I can do."

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