Yamaha Factory riders say they are short of practice after oil spill at Assen – MotoGP news
Yamaha Factory riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies have said that they are short of practice due to the oil spill at the circuit of the upcoming Assen Grand Prix.
However, both said that they made useful runs during the short duration they were out on the track.
The practice day on Thursday started with heavy downpour on the track which was followed by an oil spill during a Moto2 practice session by a rider.
Yamaha Factory Racing rider, Jorge Lorenzo said, “We rode some laps this morning and we learnt some good information for wet conditions should they stay like this at the weekend. It’s a special moment to be here for us with our new livery celebrating the
50th Anniversary so it’s really important to get a good result.”
After the oil spill, the track was closed for any practice session and the rest of the practices were cancelled after a delayed start call. The cleaning process took about two hours to properly scrub out any oil leftovers. Even after that, the organisers
decided the track was not safe for racing.
The team riders were able to only run 12 laps on the wet circuit and the oil spill prevented them from completing more laps.
Yamaha Factory Racing rider, Ben Spies said, “This morning was good. After the crash in Silverstone it was nice to get back out on the bike in the rain and get the confidence back. I felt really comfortable and just didn’t push to the limits in the first
session. It looks like we’re going to be riding plenty in the rain this weekend anyway.”
Spies went on to say that the settings were changed by the end of the session. He said the changes were beneficial and it allowed him to ride his fastest lap of the day.
The American is confident that the bike will perform well at Assen in any weather conditions. His practice was also important in terms of getting his racing feel back after he had a crash during the last British Grand Prix.
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