DANI ESCAPES UNHURT FROM CRASH

Despite the setback Pedrosa will start from the front row

DANIEL PEDROSA

(4th, 1’33”225): “I’m okay from the crash – a bit bruised but the doctors said there is nothing broken, which was a relief. It was a strange crash because I was on my first lap out of the pit – maybe the tyre was cold but I’m not sure. It could have been much worse. As far as the race is concerned I don’t have a fixed plan – we’ll see how I feel when I wake up and how things go once we are underway. The top three are really fast and I’m sure they’ll try to set a fast pace from the start.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA

(7th, 1’34”358): “I had a big fall this morning, which meant that I went out much more carefully in the final qualifying session, taking it slowly and gradually stepping up my rhythm. I am happy with my lap time at the end and the second row grid position, but I have to keep working. I don’t have much experience of this circuit and it won’t be easy to follow the pace at the front unless I get a really good start.”

ALBERTO PUIG

(Team manager): “We all got a bit of a scare but luckily Dani is okay and tomorrow he’ll be able to race without any problems. It was also a tough day for Hiro, who also had a crash this morning at high speed. The mechanics are doing a great job and tomorrow everything will be ready.”

LAP TIMES

1.      Sebastian Porto (Arg/Aprilia) 1’32”099

2.      Alex De Angelis (RSM/Honda) + 0”887

3.      Manuel Poggiali (RSM/Aprilia) + 1”111

4. Dani Pedrosa (Esp/Honda) + 1”126

5. Randy De Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) + 1”665

6. Fonsi Nieto (Esp/Aprilia) + 2”141

7. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) a 2”259