From a press release issued by Fortuna Honda:

LORENZO CONFIRMS HIGH HOPES FOR 2005

Jorge Lorenzo again confirmed that he is adapting to the quarter-litre class at a spectacular pace on the second day of tests at the Cheste circuit. The Spaniard’s lap time today would have put him on pole position at the Valencian Grand Prix in the final race of last season.

The Fortuna-Honda rider’s best effort was bettered only by Argentinean Sebastián Porto, one of the main stars of last season’s championship and, without doubt, one of the big favourites for this year.

Lorenzo was only ten thousandths of a second behind the Aprilia rider after completing 84 laps today. Yesterday he completed 32 laps of the Cheste circuit on a damp day which was affected by a spell of morning rain. The Fortuna Honda rider suffered a slight crash and, although he was unharmed, it delayed set-up work with the bike on the team’s sixth day in total of preseason tests at the circuit that is named in the memory of legendary rider Ricardo Tormo.

However, Lorenzo was typically modest at the end of the session: “Although it may seem a lie, I’m not completely happy with the final result. The bike worked perfectly and that’s what makes me angry. I know that I could have ridden a couple of tenths faster, but on my fastest lap I was held up by a bunch of 125cc riders, who we’ve been sharing the track with, and that messed up my day. Despite that I’m leaving Valencia feeling quite happy and optimistic because we’ve done these times with the ’04 bike and that makes me more enthusiastic than ever about receiving the 05′ version.”

His team-mate at Fortuna Honda, Héctor Barberá, set the fifth fastest time yesterday and was ninth today, just over a second behind Lorenzo. Yesterday he clocked up 49 laps and today managed 80, with his bike emblazoned with the new logo of team sponsors Lotus. This was the third visit for Dani Amatriaín’s team to Valencia as they finalise their preparations for a championship that starts exactly two months from today at Jerez de la Frontera. The Fortuna-Honda team will be back in action in mid-March for the official IRTA tests at Catalunya.

LAP TIMES:

1.- Sebastian Porto – 1:36.100
2.- Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda) 1:36.110 (84 laps).
3.- Casey Stoner 1:36.144

9.- Héctor Barberá (Fortuna Honda) 1:37.392 (80 laps).


More, from a press release issued by KTM:

Sergio Gadea set the quickest lap on the second and final day of 125cc tests at the Cheste circuit in his hometown of Valencia on Thursday.

The Master Aspar Team rider clocked a best time of 1:40.060 to hold off Thomas Luthi and Mika Kallio, who had swapped places at the top of the time sheets for most of the day.

Unofficial lap times:
1.- Sergio Gadea Aprilia 1:40.060 (64 laps)
2.- Thomas Luthi Honda 1:40.493 (88)
3.- Mika Kallio KTM 1:40.584 (60)
4.- Gabor Talmacsi KTM 1:41.388 (63)
5.- Lorenzo Zanetti Aprilia 1:41.524 (77)
6.- Imre Toth Aprilia 1:41.651 (67)
7.- Dario Giuseppetti Aprilia 1:41.822 (28)
8.- Héctor Faubel Aprilia 1:41.862 76)
9.- Mateo Túnez Aprilia 1:41.940 (75)
10.- Julián Miralles Aprilia 1:41.995 (81)