He was unable to make the most of the qualifying tyres (in the 15 dry minutes yesterday and on race tyres he was only 0.297 seconds slower) and with the eleventh quickest time he will need a good start tomorrow when the lights go out. The lack of time on a dry track didn’t help Troy Bayliss either, as he looked to improve the set-up of his RC211V.

Tomorrow morning the Australian will aim to make the most of the warm-up to try a few modifications to the settings so he can express his characteristic aggressive style during the race itself.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda
“Alex is only missing that crucial fast lap this weekend, but his rhythm is up there with the best. Certainly today’s time is a handicap because he will have to start from some way down the order, but he’s got the pace. Tomorrow in the warm-up we will make a few slight adjustments to improve his set-up, but he has both the chance and the capability of fighting for the podium. Troy is perhaps in a little more difficulty, we need to work hard and try and get him more comfortable behind the handlebars of the RCV. It’s obvious that we’re not getting all the potential out of him that we should be, and we have to try and do everything we can to improve his confidence.”

Alex Barros – Camel Honda – 1’33.876 - 11th fastest
“So many problems today, it’s a shame. At the beginning of qualifying, when I was riding with the race tyres, the front tucked on me in the first turn and so logically I was a little more prudent after that. The track was colder than yesterday and there was less grip. The thing that we are most affected by though for tomorrow’s race is being unable to
make the most of the qualifying tyres. That’s really disappointing for me because if you’re aiming for victory you can’t start that far back. From the fourth row I would need a great start and also a superb first lap, because you have to be there to try and make up ground on the front guys as they try to clear off. Anyway, we’ll see what happens tomorrow what type of race it’s going to be, dry or wet, the conditions can change very quickly here.”

Troy Bayliss – Camel Honda – 1’35.231 – 15th fastest
“I honestly expected something better today. Not great things, but certainly a bigger step forward. Perhaps I lost a bit of confidence after the crash in Shanghai in the rain and after that highside in Estoril during practice. I don’t really feel at ease in the saddle, and I need to get a good result to get a bit of confidence back. So we’ll see what happens in the warm-up tomorrow, see if we can manage to improve a few things, and then we hope to have a good race.”