Mechanical problems relegate Pedrosa to the second row

DANIEL PEDROSA

(7th, 1’34”641): “Qualifying practice started well but we had a problem with the number one bike which meant I lost a lot of time in the garage, firstly to find out what was going on and then to set up the second bike. These co-ordination problems knocked my concentration a bit and I wasn’t able to ride as hard as I should have. Tomorrow we’ll have to concentrate much harder in the two sessions we have available. The wind is still a major factor at this circuit, especially in the fast corners, and along with the cold it makes you ride really carefully.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA

(9th, 1’35”255): “I am really surprised by the strength of the wind here. I’d been told a lot about it but it is much stronger than I expected. It’s a beautiful track, I really like it, but it is difficult to learn because every lap is different depending whether there is a gust of wind in a particular corner or not. As far as the set-up is concerned I think we have worked well and I feel capable of dropping my lap time even further”.

ALBERTO PUIG

(Team manager): “The official practice was affected by a series of problems with Dani’s bike which we managed to sort out, so there is plenty of room for improvement tomorrow. Hiro has discovered a really unique circuit today – it is a beautiful layout but it’s full of traps because of the wind. It’s never easy to ride at Phillip Island for the first time and stand out.”

LAP TIMES

1.      Alex de Angelis (RSM/Aprilia) 1’32”986

2.      Manuel Poggiali (RSM/Honda) + 0”224

3.      Sebastián Porto (Arg/Aprilia) + 0”417

4. Fonsi Nieto (Esp/Aprilia) + 1”347

5. Franco Battaini (Ita/Aprilia) + 1”590

6. Toni Elias (Esp/Honda) + 1”597

7. Daniel Pedrosa (Esp/Honda) + 1”655

8. Randy de Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) + 2”161

9. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) + 2”269