Rider quotes from yesterday’s dramatic and crash strewn qualifying sessione at the Mazda Speedway at Laguna Seca.

Update on Jorge Lorenzo’s conditions: The Spanish rider besides dislocating his collarbone, has a fractured metatarsal in his right foot and mini fracture to his finger.

Jorge Lorenzo -1st 1′21.678

“I was trying to push but first I had some traffic and then the tyres were cold, and I wasn’t in the right shape to try to improve my time. I’m disappointed for these two crashes but I am okay and I am optimistic that I will be able to ride tomorrow. Now the American doctors and the Clinica Mobile are working together to try to help me as best they can and make me more comfortable. Thanks to all the American people here for their support!”

Valentino Rossi - 2nd 1′21.845

“Firstly I want to say that I hope Lorenzo and Stoner are okay for the race tomorrow, because it should be a great battle between the three of us. I am happy about this session because we have had two practices today when we haven’t been in perfect shape and we have struggled in some areas, especially in the last sector where we are still not strong enough. I was finding it quite hard to ride at the maximum there today and control the bike how I wanted, so we need to try to improve a bit more. It depends how the other two are but I hope they’re okay and then we can have an exciting race.”

Casey Stoner - 3rd 1′21.910

“To be honest the bike had given us a few warnings in a lot of places around the circuit today and I’m sure there were a lot of other guys in a similar situation. The tyre is quite hard on the right-hand side and needs a couple of laps to warm up properly. Unfortunately on the lap before the crash, in the most important corner for heating that side of the tyre up I was held up by two riders having a disagreement and then I got stuck behind one of them into the next right-hander too. I was wary that the tyre would be cooler than I needed it to be on the next lap so I went into turn three a lot more carefully than normal, but as I closed the gas on the way into the corner the rear just came around. I tried to pick the bike up and go straight into the gravel but it didn’t want to and that was it - it threw me straight up in the air! It hurt when I landed but I thought I’d only winded myself - now it looks like I might have torn something in my groin, which is not the best thing to happen before the race. Anyway, we have a great bike for this track so we’ll see what we can do.”

Continue reading: MotoGP Laguna Seca - Rider Quotes from Qualifying Session

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