Jorge Lorenzo shines in Island tyre test

Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo topped the times on the first day of an official MotoGP tyre test at Phillip Island.

The three day test at the Victorian circuit is being held to develop Bridgestone’s newly designed tyre for the circuit following the debacle of last year’s Australian Grand Prix.

The race in October was shortened due to fears surrounding the safety and durability of Bridgestone’s tyres on the new track surface.

Factory MotoGP teams from Yamaha, Honda and Ducati alongside Moto2 outfits Mapfre and Marc VDS Racing took part in the test with analysis of the new Bridgestone tyres, which will be issued to all the teams for the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, the primary objective.

Lorenzo ended the day at the top of the timesheets with an effort 1:29.213s effort, which was three tenths of a second faster than new Ducati recruit Cal Crutchlow, on board the Italian manufacturer’s ‘Open Class’ machine.

The Brit had held second for the majority of the session before being edged into third by Lorenzo’s team mate Valentino Rossi with five minutes remaining.

However, the Ducati rider responded in the final minute to regain second spot.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was fourth as the team fielded just one bike for the test with world champion Marc Marquez continuing his recovery from a broken leg sustained two weeks ago.

Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso was fifth with a best time seven tenths slower than Lorenzo’s benchmark. The five MotoGP riders completed a total of 369 laps between them thus providing plenty of data to Bridgestone.

Marc VDS Racing’s Esteve Rabat was the quickest Moto2 rider a full second faster than Mapfre’s Nico Terol.

VIDEO: Highlights from testing and interview with Jorge Lorenzo

See below for testing times