Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo rode as smoothly as ever around the Phillip Island circuit today, taking third position for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix. Teammate Valentino Rossi also felt the tension build before the crucial qualifying session, and secured seventh place on the grid.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Jorge Lorenzo qualified third on the grid at a sunny yet slightly chilly Phillip Island circuit for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix, while teammate Valentino Rossi will start the race from seventh position.

Holding the current Circuit Best Lap record of 1'27.899s at Phillip Island, Lorenzo felt confident at the start of the 15-minute qualifying heat and was the last man out on track to avoid traffic. His first flying lap of 1'29.034s saw him grab hold of provisional second place until other riders completed their second lap, pushing him back to third. He immediately returned to the pits to continue a three-stint strategy with over nine minutes left.

One and a half minutes later the Spaniard was back out and his second attempt saw him post a 1'28.839s lap, briefly moving him up to second position, until trailing rival Andrea Iannone took over his place just moments later.

Lorenzo returned to the pit lane for a second bike swap with two and a half minutes of the session remaining. Having been pushed back to fourth, he was back out on track to put the hammer down once more. While the flag had come out, he posted a 1'28.680s lap for second position. However, still towing Iannone along, he was pipped at the post by the Italian, who rode an identical lap time, and moved Lorenzo back to third on the leaderboard.

Teammate Rossi had a challenging qualifying as he chased his seventh premier class Grand Prix victory at the Australian circuit. The nine-time World Champion left the pit as the majority of the riders streamed out of pit lane, looking for some clear track. His first flying lap of 1'30.023s was enough to put him in initial third place before being pushed back to sixth position. His second attempt saw him improving in time but not in place, posting a 1'29.235s for seventh as he headed into pit lane with more than eight minutes remaining.

Rossi quickly returned with a new set of rubber and four and a half minutes left on the clock. He set a 1'29.014s for sixth place and had time for one more go at bettering his starting position, but was unable to improve on his time. He will start tomorrow's race from seventh position on the grid.



Jorge Lorenzo  - 3rd / 1'28.680 / 8 laps

"I was a little bit angry after qualifying, because my real position was second place if I could have been on track alone, but with my tow Iannone was very fast here and the Ducati's soft tyre for sure helped him to improve two or three tenths of a second and take second from me. This is very important because usually I start better than Marquez, but my starts are the same or maybe even a bit worse than Iannone's so this will make the first lap more difficult. We will have to be patient and know that the race is very long. Little by little I will work my way to the front and fight with Marquez for victory, that's my goal. I'm happy with my last three fast laps, but not so much with the position, but it's not so bad in the bigger perspective, because Vale is on the third row."

Valentino Rossi  - 7th / 1'29.014 / 7 laps

"Starting from third row is always difficult and we expected a little bit more. During today we tried some different things to improve our speed, but we haven't found a good solution. I remain consistent with my lap times, but they are not fast enough, so at the end we arrived at qualifying not being ready. I was able to do a lap that was not so bad, but it wasn't enough to start more in front. Bridgestone is worried about this track, especially considering the past, but the grip of the new asphalt is less, so everybody's wheels spin a lot. For this reason I think that the life of the tyre is not a problem, but it's more important to find the right balance of the bike to reduce wheel spin."

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"A very good and important third place on the grid for Jorge, who's showed also a strong pace during the practices. Though we expect it to be a tough race, it seems that we have a good package to fight with tomorrow. We still have some work to do on Valentino's bike. He will start tomorrow's race from seventh place: we would have liked to see him a little further up on the grid, because it would have made the start of the race easier, but given his consistency I'm still confident that he will be competitive tomorrow. We will continue to work hard and try to prepare something for tomorrow's warm up to see if we can improve some final details. We will give our all in the race at 4PM."