Second fastest in each of the practice sessions this weekend, Sete tackled this afternoon’s qualifying practice in confident mood and set the pace for much of the session, knocking almost 1.5 seconds off his lap times.

The Movistar rider moved onto pole position just 20 minutes from the end as he stopped the clock at 1’22.889 with his 20th lap, although he was unable to find the limit on qualifying tyres in the final ten minutes of the session. Sete was disappointed not to end the day on pole but he is confident his luck will change before the holidays begin.

Marco Melandri suffered a little more than expected to set the bike up to his liking at the peculiar Sachsenring circuit, where a few tenths can be paid for dearly. However, his progress today saw him make up ten places on the grid, qualifying fifth fastest after only managing the fifteenth fastest time in free practice.

SETE GIBERNAU (2nd, 1’23”796): “We prepared well for the final session, as we had for the three beforehand, but I can’t deny a slightly bitter taste in my mouth over the result. We’ve had a few unexpected problems with the front end that meant I was unable to finish the job off with the qualifying tyre. I would have liked to set pole but we have to have confidence in the good race pace we found today and use the warm up to have a look at what happened in the final few minutes before going out and giving everything in the race.”

MARCO MELANDRI (5th, 1’23”051): “For the first time this season we had to make a lot of changes to the setting of the bike this morning, heading in a completely new direction, and I had a little difficulty getting used to the new configuration. The feeling improved in qualifying this afternoon but I think I still have a lot of room for improvement. Qualifying on the second row of the grid has been a big relief and together with the team I will try and refine a few details tomorrow in the warm up. The race will be very demanding and it will be important to get a good start here because it is so difficult to overtake.”

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