Daniel Pedrosa worked hard until the final few minutes of qualifying to find the right set-up for his Honda, only to run into traffic as he went in search of a fast time at the very end of the session.
Despite that, the World Champion held on to an important front row start and he is optimistic of his pace for a dry race tomorrow.
Hiroshi Aoyama moved up from the provisional third row to the second after knocking over a second off his fastest time today. Hiro starts behind Dovozioso, Barberá and De Angelis and is hopeful of sticking with them in the race.
DANI PEDROSA (3rd, 1’41”285): “I tried to improve my time at the end of the session but I ran into traffic on the track and I couldn’t complete my fast lap. But it’s important to be on the front row and I’m satisfied with both the rhythm and the set-up of the bike if it’s a dry race, although we haven’t selected the tyres yet. I think it will be a long race with a group of riders at the front, but as with Jerez I’d like my luck here to change and at least make the podium.”
HIROSHI AOYAMA (7th, 1’41”790): “I’ve improved my lap time from yesterday quite a lot and that has allowed me to move up one row on the grid, although I am not completely happy with the session. I was only able to get one really good lap in and I need to be more consistent than that now that my feeling with the bike has improved. I’ll have to stay concentrated and get a good start to chase the lead group.”
LAP TIMES
Randy De Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) 1’41”314
Sebastián Porto (Arg/Aprilia) + 0”048
Daniel Pedrosa (Esp/Honda) + 0”181
Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Honda) + 0”358
Héctor Barberá (Esp/Honda) + 0”493
Alex De Angelis (RM/Aprilia) + 0”596
Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) + 0”686