“I thought it might be possible to do a little better than that today but I didn’t get the best start. The clutch was slipping a little bit down the first couple of straightaways and I lost some positions. After that I managed to pull myself up again and from there it was a case of doing my best to try and bridge the gap to Colin (Edwards).
The bike was working quite well but every time I closed a tenth or two he had an answer and pulled it back out. Towards the end I had some issues in a couple of left-handers and my pace dropped too much. Anyway, I had an enjoyable race, going back and forth with a few guys at the beginning especially. It’s not a spectacular result but we’ve end the season with two top fives and we know we have a direction to work in over the winter.
It hasn’t been a great season for me in terms of results but the improvements we have made since the start are huge and I’m excited about the future. We’re thirteenth overall, which looks awful on paper, but we are only eleven points off seventh and I had three first-lap incidents that weren’t my fault – just one of those could have made the difference. Click here to read more
1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 46′47.553
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 46′50.183
3. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 46′50.466
4. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47′20.068
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 47′22.138
6. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 47′22.441
7. Ben Spies USA Sterilgarda Yamaha Team 47′25.259
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 47′25.917 Click here to read more
“We have made a lot of progress from yesterday but we have had to work hard and make huge changes to the bike. I know it’s not usually a good sign when you can’t roll something competitive out on a Friday but that’s what we’re aiming for and for the moment my team are doing a great job in the time we have available.
The bike was more much enjoyable to ride today and after being fifth this morning I was hoping for the same result this afternoon because that is my worst qualifying result here at Valencia. We’ll take sixth though – it’s not my best qualifying position but from where we started the year in Qatar I think I was last on the grid and in the hospital so to end it with a second-row start is pleasing.
Tomorrow is going to be a tough one as always but we’ll try to get a good start, make sure we don’t get squeezed in down in turn one and have some fun. I’m looking forward to it.”
1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1′32.256
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1′32.519
3. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′32.537
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′32.922
5. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′33.085
6. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1′33.154
7. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1′33.391
8. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′33.475 Click here to read more
“It was a tough session and I had certainly hoped to be a lot closer to the pace than that today. It’s a track I really like and we know the bike works well here so the team and I have a lot of work to do. Track temperatures were quite low and I had a really hard time getting the tyres working on the front and rear. It’s also quite windy so I’m not sure if maybe a lot of sand and dirt has blown onto the track but it’s definitely tricky to find grip out there. That’s our target for tomorrow anyway.”
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