Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP Final Qualifying Results:

1. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:23.734
2. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 1:23.736
3. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:24.058
4. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:24.253
5. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:24.287
6. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:24.405
7. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:24.423
8. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:24.492
9. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 1:24.574
10. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:24.592
11. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 1:24.745
12. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 1:24.781
13. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 1:24.794
14. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:24.913
15. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:24.961
16. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:24.981
17. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:25.008
18. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:25.038
19. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:25.360
20. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 1:25.563
21. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 1:26.003
22. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:26.247
23. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 1:26.296
24. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:26.727
25. David De Gea, ROC Yamaha, 1:26.727
DNQ. Chris Burns, ROC Yamaha, no time recorded

More, from a press release issued by Harris WCM:

David de Gea–25th

Saturday Qualifying Time ­ 1:26.750
Friday Qualifying Time ­ 1:26.727

“I thought I would of done a better lap time then yesterday but I had a few problems with the exhaust. The bike is old and sure and we have problems with it, but it is good to be out there, qualifying and racing”

Chris Burns–Retired yesterday due to collar bone injury

Peter Clifford–Team Manager
“The old girl was a bit tired this afternoon – the bike that is. The exhaust pipe split just when David was asking her to exert herself for the last qualifying tyre. Still he repeated the lap time from yesterday so it’s not too bad and David certainly did a great job again.”

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

German GP, Sachsenring
Final Qualifying
Saturday, July 26 2003

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM’S ‘RING FIRST-TIMERS ON ROWS ONE & TWO

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss will start tomorrow’s German Grand Prix from the first and second rows of the grid after strong performances in this afternoon’s frantic final qualifying session.

Both men were just a fraction of a second off pole position, even though the team’s Desmosedeci MotoGP bikes had never been run at this track before yesterday’s opening practice session. Bayliss is also riding here for the first time, while Capirossi hasn’t raced here since 2001. The pair’s speed around one of the tightest, most awkward MotoGP circuits underlines the fact that the awesomely powerful Desmosedeci is happy whatever the racetrack’s character.

“We’re delighted because it’s vital to start from a good grid position here since it’s so hard to overtake around this tight track,” said Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “We made a change to the geometry of Loris’ bikes because he didn’t feel confident in the front end yesterday. This is a setting we’ve tried before at other tracks and it seems to work well here. The tricky thing here is striking an overall balance with the machine because everyone’s having problems with wheelies exiting the final turn – it’s so steep uphill there. Loris did his best lap with the softest tyre that Michelin has for this track and he’ll race with the second softest. Troy did exactly the same, though he made no real changes to his bikes today.

“Normally we make good starts, so I think we have a good chance of being up with the leaders into turn one. As far as race pace goes, Max (Biaggi) and Valentino (Rossi) are faster than us, but for sure we can fight for places on the podium.”

CAPIROSSI MOVES UP TO FRONT ROW

Loris Capirossi lopped almost a whole second off his Friday best to snatch an all-important front-row start in today’s final Sachsenring qualifier. The Ducati Marlboro Team man, who missed last year’s German GP through injury, had been ninth yesterday but moved up the order feeling more confident in himself and after his crew successfully adjusted his machine’s chassis set-up.

“I’m very happy,” said Capirossi, currently fourth in the World Championship. “It’s very important to be on the front row here and it’s also very important to show once again that our machine is fast wherever we go. So I’m happy for our bike and I’m happy for myself. This also makes me feel good about next year, when our target with be different to this year’s – we will be aiming to win the championship. Last night we changed a few things, so now everything is perfect and under control. I rode most of the session with races tyres, so that’s another reason I feel happy and confident for tomorrow.”

BAYLISS IMPROVES TIMES, STAYS ON ROW TWO

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss also improved his pace today, cutting three tenths from yesterday’s times, but the Sachsenring first-timer slipped one place on the grid after rivals also bettered their pace. Nevertheless he will start from the second row of the grid, just as he did at Donington two weeks ago.

“I expected a bit better, it’s not terrible but it’s okay,” said the Aussie – who’s never fully satisfied with himself until he’s right on top! “We did a lot of laps and we should have some good tyres for the race. We only made a few little changes to the bike today, though I’m still missing something, I can’t ride any faster at the moment. My race pace isn’t so bad. Biaggi and Rossi look good, McWilliams will be good for a couple of laps, and I reckon that Loris, Gibernau and me will be up there too.”

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Pramac Honda Team Press Information

Sachsenring difficult for Makoto Tamada: all set for a tough race from fifth row

Makoto is still suffering from a lack of confidence with the front of his RC211V and made only a slight improvement on his lap time right at the beginning of the official afternoon sessions when he improved on yesterday’s time. Then he maintained constant performance until the end of the day. The team technicians tried to satisfy Makoto’s needs by adjusting the front fork and they also worked on endurance tests for the tyres considered most suitable for tomorrow’s race.

The efficiency of the tyres over a long distance was good, so Makoto should be able to make an aggressive comeback during the 30-lap race tomorrow. It is certainly going to be an uphill race for the Pramac Honda Team, which finds itself on the fifth row of the grid, but Makoto is used to reacting defiantly to difficulties he has during the run-up to the race, and this time will certainly be no exception.

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda Team): 19th – 1:25.360

“I have a problem of confidence with the front of the bike – yesterday mainly in the fast section of the circuit where you need to keep the bike leaning down, but today in other parts as well. I don’t feel relaxed when it’s like this so I can’t push the bike to its limits. I’ll be starting rather a long way back, so I’m going to have to try to fight my way up through the ranks and get a better position than I’m starting from. It won’t be easy, but you can be sure I’ll give it all I’ve got.”

More, form a press release issued by Alice Aprilia Racing Press Information:

BETTER THAN YESTERDAY

Sachsenring – After yesterday bad session, the Alice Aprilia Racing Team is still working hard on the development of the RS Cube. Unfortunately it was not so easy to get the right set up for the three cylinders bike of Noale in order to be competitive but the team is still confident for tomorrow: Nori and Colin are ready to fight to get a good result.

COLIN EDWARDS: “It’s almost impossible! Three American riders in the same row: Roberts and Hayden behind me. The race will be tough but I am not afraid about the fight.. I forgot the fright of yesterday crash and now have more feeling with the bike. Anyway I did not have to much time to test the bike on this new circuit. I will be very concentrated tomorrow”.

NORIYUKI HAGA: “I still feel the same chattering problem on my bike since the beginning of the session. I made different tyres tests but the problem is still there. There’s only a short difference with the soft tyres on but I can not use them during the race. Let’s see waha is gong to happen in warm up session tomorrow”.

GIGI DALL’IGNA (Project Leader: “Firstly we need to solve Haga’s problem trying to make some tests tomorrow morning. Unfortunately we did not have enough time because of the crashes. Regarding the “evolution” material, Colin used the new chassis as he has got a good feeling. Also the new shorter exhaust pipes are suitable for him. Haga keeps on using the “old” chassis setting as he has more confidence with. I am aware that their positions on the grid are not worthy but they are going to do the best even if we missed one day of practices”.

More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

DAY TWO AT THE ‘RING PROVES TOUGH FOR FORTUNA YAMAHA

After the Fortuna Yamaha Team’s positive start to the German Grand Prix weekend, which yesterday placed Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri provisionally fourth and seventh respectively, day two was not as fruitful by comparison for the factory Yamaha pair. Checa stole the fastest lap time on several occasions during yesterday’s first qualifying session and finally finished the day on the provisional front row. The 30-year-old approached day two confident that he could increase his advantage for the start of Sunday’s 30-lap race. Yet despite ideal conditions and the fact that the Spaniard improved on his Friday time, Checa completed today’s final qualifying session seventh fastest but just 0.689 seconds shy of polesitter Max Biaggi (Honda, 1:23.734).

In a rather surprising result, two-stroke mounted Jeremy McWilliams (Proton KR) rode like a man possessed and looked set to make it a two-stroke pole position at the Sachsenring for the second consecutive year of the MotoGP World Championship. Last year Olivier Jacque (Gauloises Yamaha Team) claimed pole on the Yamaha YZR500 and became the first man ever to break into the ’23s at the tight German circuit. With only minutes remaining on the board in today’s session, McWilliams posted a time of 1:23.734, half a second faster than the might of the four-stroke competition. Just moments later Biaggi found a further 0.002 seconds to snatch the number one slot from him. Loris Capirossi (Ducati, 1:24.058) and defending MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda, 1:24.253) completed the front row.

Checa remained positive for tomorrow’s race, commenting, “I’ve been working with both bikes and I feel comfortable with both. Finally, however, I couldn’t get a good lap time today, which wasn’t what we expected. We’ll see tomorrow if we can keep up a good pace and get consistent lap times. I need to try and get a good start no matter what at this track. Who knows what will happen, let’s let the rider sleep well tonight, and the bike!”

Although improvements were made overnight to increase the grip and feel from the front-end of Melandri’s Yamaha YZR-M1 machine which gave him difficulties yesterday, the gain still fell short of what was needed by the 20-year-old in order to maintain his provisional second row start. Melandri lapped the 3671m circuit in a time of 1:24.781 today, to finish the session one second off pole in 12th place. Melandri and the Fortuna Yamaha Team will now look into finding a solution for tomorrow’s main event.

“For the race I’m fairly confident as I think I can find a good rhythm,” said Melandri, who won here last year in the 250cc class. “However I couldn’t find the traction I needed again today and therefore I couldn’t take full advantage of the power. I can’t feel any difference here between the old and new tyres. We’ve tried many different settings yesterday and today, and we have improved the time slightly today. I think for the race the bike will be fine but I’m angry that I couldn’t get a quicker lap time to start further ahead on the grid. This track is so difficult to overtake on, so I’ll need to get to the front quickly.”

Team Director Davide Brivio said, “It’s a pity we lost the front row, because it’s such a difficult circuit in terms of overtaking. However we have to focus on making the most of our starting positions for tomorrow. I think both riders can keep up a good pace, but it’s the start that’s the most important. We’ll see tomorrow if they can keep that pace and get in some quick lap times. Carlos still needs to improve some things with his bike. Marco has a good pace, which could help him to produce a good result, but it depends on his start. It’s not going to be easy but I still think we have a chance to get a good result.”

More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2003
ROUND 9 – CINZANO MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCHLAND
26TH JULY 2003 – QUALIFYING PRACTICE 2

DRAMA FILLED FINAL QUALIFYING FOR KAWASAKI TRIO

Fuchs Kawasaki’s trio of riders endured a drama filled final qualifying session at Sachsenring this afternoon, with Andrew Pitt and Alex Hofmann both crashing early in the session before bouncing back to improve on their previous best lap times.

Kawasaki’s fast man from yesterday’s first qualifying, Garry McCoy, failed to improve on his time after encountering unexpected front-end chatter problems with his Ninja ZX-RR race machines. Despite this, McCoy’s Friday time was good enough for him to lead the Green Team’s three man squad with 20th place on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

Hofmann will start one place further back in 21st position whilst Pitt, who is racing for the first time at Sachsenring this weekend, starts from 24th place. Hofmann’s bid to move up the grid during today’s final qualifying session was dealt a double blow when an electronics problem cost him valuable time at the start and then he crashed after just 11 laps. With only one bike this weekend, Hofmann had to wait until the team’s technicians had repaired the damage, before returning to improve his lap time with just minutes of the session remaining.

Anticipating rain, Pitt went for an early qualifying run after sorting the set-up problems which slowed him yesterday. But the Australian crashed on the final left hand corner 18 minutes into the session and was forced to switch to his spare bike.

An early threat of rain did not materialise and qualifying was run in warm and humid conditions. If it remains dry then tomorrow’s 30-lap German Grand Prix will be the first race for the new profile rear slick developed by Dunlop, which has attracted a positive response from all three riders during practice and qualifying.

Garry McCoy – 20th – 1:25.563
“I was pumped for a faster lap today, but the bike didn’t want to know about it. I thought I could go quite a few tenths faster, but I had a lot of front end chatter this afternoon. It’s really strange because chatter has never been a big problem with the ZX-RR, but it appeared in qualifying and we couldn’t dial it out. I hope we can find the answers because I’m pretty happy with the race set-up and the new Dunlop rear looks very promising here.”

Alex Hofmann – 21st – 1: 26.003
“It was upsetting to lose the first 15 minutes of the session and it’s difficult with only one bike available. My first time out after that problem I had a harder compound front tyre to test, and on the second flying lap it just went away really quickly; at least we know that’s not the front tyre for this track! Once the bike was repaired I only had time for one flying lap at the end. Without the dramas I certainly feel I could have got into the 1:25 bracket today.”

Andrew Pitt – 24th – 1:26.302
“The crash was disappointing because all my spilt times had been fast and it was going to be a good lap. I thought it might rain, which is why I tried a qualifying run early in the session to make sure I had a decent time on the board. My spare bike was close in set-up but not quite the same as the crashed bike and I had to hold the front up with on my knee in a lot of corners. There is certainly no doubt the team has fixed most of the set-up dramas I had yesterday, which puts us in a better position for tomorrow’s race”

Hamish Jamieson – Technical Director
“We didn’t make it an easy session on Alex with the electrical problem, and losing those 15 minutes certainly upset his rhythm. Both Alex and Andrew did a good job to get back on after crashing and improve their times. Garry complained of chatter this afternoon, so we’ll look for some answers, but overall the riders have a positive feeling about race set-up and the new Dunlop rear slicks.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

RETURNED ROBERTS STARTS TO HAVE FUN

Sachsenring, Germany – Saturday, July 26, 2003:

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr., a former Sachsenring winner, slashed almost a full second off his previous best qualifying time in a strong final timed session today, to gain five places and move one row forward on an ultra-close starting grid. Roberts is barely a second off pole position time.

The 2000 World Champion, who celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday, is back on track after missing three races to recuperate from an injury sustained at the Italian GP. Today’s huge improvement proved the wisdom of waiting until the injury was fully healed, rather than making a premature return while still weak.

Team-mate John Hopkins had the opposite sort of a day, unable to improve his time as he and his pit crew made almost continual detailed changes to the machine set-up, without success. Hopkins was thrilling the large crowd who came to today’s practice at the circuit in the former East Germany with tyre-smoking rear-wheel slides. But his efforts did not have the desired result, and he ended up 22nd on the lap time he set yesterday.

Today’s practice was run in warm but overcast conditions, but the heavy clouds remained merely threatening for the full hour-long session. Changeable weather forecasts mean that tomorrow’s race, the ninth of the 16-round series, may well be run on a wet track.

Pole position was taken by Max Biaggi, just two thousandths of a second ahead of Ulster rider Jeremy McWilliams, riding one of the few surviving 500cc two-strokes in a field dominated by the more powerful 990cc MotoGP four-stroke prototypes like the V4 Suzuki GSV-R. This demonstrates the unusual character of the 3.671km circuit of many corners – the shortest of the year.

Kevin Schwantz, who won the 1993 World Championship along with 25 GPs as a Suzuki rider, was again taking the role of track-side observer, adding his expert opinion to the stream of data that goes towards the goal of achieving the obvious race-winning potential of the 2003 Suzuki GSV-R.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. – 14th Position, 1:24.913
Physically I feel fantastic. Honestly, this three weeks to build up my strength means this is about the best I’ve ever felt at this track, specifically in terms of strength. From a position standpoint, I am disappointed compared with where I feel I should be. As I said yesterday we were working on making it possible for me to use my riding ability to do more with the bike. That’s what we did today, with no big secret to anything. There are some bikes behind us that are going to be extremely strong tomorrow, and some ahead of us that are going to be slightly weaker in race performance. If we can get the bike to be consistent, and stay out of trouble, I’ll just try and have a little bit of fun. That’s a mental thing – it’s hard to have fun when you’re not in the position you want to be in. But maybe I can talk myself into it.

JOHN HOPKINS – 22nd Position, 1:26.247
From yesterday afternoon, all this morning and again this afternoon we’ve done a big circle with set-up. We’ve tried some pretty dramatic changes in settings – to chassis, forks, fork springs and things like that, but basically I’ve just been chasing my tail. We’re struggling. Right now my bike is a handful to ride, and I’m not getting any traction. I need to steer it by spinning and sliding the rear, and at other tracks we can do that and still get some forward drive. Here we haven’t been able to get it to work that way. On top of the machine not working its best for me, this isn’t one of my favourite tracks. But we’re trying, and we’ll work on some more changes for tomorrow, and try and get a finish in the points.

GARRY TAYLOR – TEAM MANAGER
Today proves that giving Kenny time to recover was the right thing to do. He was able to get fully fit, and come back and push hard, as you have to do at this track. That’s obviously paid off, and it’s good to see him showing the fighting spirit that we know he has in abundance. John had a difficult time today, but he never gives up and will give everything in the race. I’m sure he will show he and the bike are better than today’s qualifying position suggests.

More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Press Information:

BIAGGI GRABS SECOND CONSECUTIVE POLE POSITION

Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) snatched pole position from Jeremy McWilliams (Proton) with one of the most sensational laps ever turned at the tight 3.671km Sachsenring circuit in eastern Germany today. In bright sunshine, but with the ever-present threat of rain, the Roman powered his V5 Honda around the confines of this tortuous track with profound skill and utter commitment.

When McWilliams had already stunned the crowd with his 1m 23.736s lap, which many believed would be the fastest time of the day with eight minutes of the session remaining, few riders looked remotely capable of getting near it under the 1m 24s barrier – never mind beating it. It seemed like an inspired lap ridden on the very edge of adhesion – and it was.

But Biaggi, although he confessed to being in some doubt as to whether he could best McWilliams’ time, had the skills and the machine to beat the seemingly impossible marker by just two thousandths of a second. He did it with three minutes to go and when his time hit the screens, it almost seemed to sap the will of the rest of the field.

Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V), the only man who looked capable of getting near it, went out and did his best. But it became clear by the middle of his fastest attempt that things were not going to change and the front row reality was set to show Biaggi, McWilliams, Capirossi (Ducati) and Rossi in that order.

Capirossi had done his qualifying work early in the session and the 1m 24.058s time he set would be good enough to keep him on the front row. Only the almost miraculous efforts of the Ulsterman and the Roman would top his time. And the implication for tomorrow’s race is that if anyone can turn the screw and pull out an advantage, if and when required, it’s likely to be the demon duo at the front of the grid.

A front row start is a vital requirement here if a rider is to avoid getting stuck in heavy first turn traffic. And the riders on row two, headed by Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) in fifth, are at a disadvantage, although not quite so heavily handicapped as those on row three and beyond. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) qualified sixth and Carlos Checa (Yamaha) and Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) will form up tomorrow in seventh and eighth places respectively.

McWilliams worked his V3 two-stroke Proton to perfection at a track that favours agile, light machines. Olivier Jacque put his Yamaha V4 two-stroke on pole here last year and Biaggi’s performance on the four-stroke RC211V was one of a man who has really found a way to make it work for him in his first season aboard the V5 powerhouse.

“When I saw the lap time made by Jeremy, I didn’t think I could match it,” said Biaggi. “He was really great and I congratulate him. But my Michelin technicians brought me a fantastic tyre which allowed me to beat him. I used a soft tyre I had never used before and it worked perfectly. The race is going to be pretty close and I think it’s unlikely that somebody will get out alone in front.”

Rossi, who slid off his RC211V yesterday on a damp patch left over from a Thursday afternoon thunderstorm for the first time in more than a year was realistic about his front row start. “Not such a bad result,” he said. “We’re still not at 100% and we’ve got a few problems to fix tomorrow. We tried some soft tyres for a fast lap time at the end but we went too soft. Anyway, I’ll start from the front row and we’ll hope for a good day.”

Sete Gibernau in fifth was not too despondent. “Obviously I’d prefer row one,” he said. “But we’re doing okay here and in the warm-up tomorrow I’ll try and find a good rhythm and sort out some small details. The most important thing here is to get a good start.”

For Tohru Ukawa in eighth, things are slowly improving. “I was complaining yesterday,” he said. “And I’ve got less to complain about now. We made some changes to the rear spring and ride height and I found a lot more traction today. And I’ve got a few more things to try tomorrow too.”

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) qualified fifteenth. “Not so happy really,” said the American rookie. “Qualifying is my weakest point right now. The last ten minutes is pretty intense and everyone really gets going fast. I have to put qualifying behind me now and look forward to the race.”

Things were not much better for Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) in 19th. “I have a confidence problem with the front end of the bike,” said the Japanese. “I don’t feel relaxed when it’s like this and can’t push the bike to its limits. I’ll be starting a long way back and I’ll have to fight my way through the ranks – but you can be sure I’ll give it all I’ve got.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) keeps plugging away in his rookie year and qualified in 23rd. “The balance of the bike is good,” he said. “But I don’t have a good feeling for the track yet. It’s really difficult to go fast and finding a good set-up is proving tough too.”

Honda riders Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) and Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) turned the tables on the Aprilia hordes here at the tight, twisty Sachsenring with a masterly display of inch-perfect riding exploiting the sweet, accurate handling of their RS250RWs.

Porto took the pole with a 1m 25.728s lap with Rolfo just 0.16 seconds shy of the Argentine’s time. The other two front row men Franco Battaini and Fonsi Nieto (both Aprilia), third and fourth respectively, were into the 1m 25s bracket with a 1m 25.944s and a 1m 25.963s lap to their credit.

“I’m happy with pole,” said Porto. “It was hard for us but now every race is a bit better. Yesterday was good, but this morning we changed the suspension and couldn’t go any faster. But this afternoon I tried really hard at the beginning of the session and got a good lap in. I really want to thank the mechanics and the team for this.”

Rolfo was equally happy with his day’s work. “I’m pleased because the Honda is working really well at this track. By the end of qualifying I had a really good feeling on the bike and the team did a great job. We should be okay for tomorrow and although it would have been good to be on pole I’m still in a position to get a good start in all the traffic.”

Stefano Perugini (Aprilia) qualified in pole position for the second consecutive time for tomorrow’s 125cc Grand Prix. He went pole with two minutes of the session to go and his 1m 27.717s time proved too quick for the rest of the field. The only man to dip in to the 1m 27s bracket was Alex de Angelis who qualified second with a 1m 27.771s time.

Hector Barbera and Lucio Cecchinello (both Aprilia) complete the front row while Casey Stoner (Aprilia) heads row two. Andrea Dovisioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R) and Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS125R) qualified on row two in sixth and seventh respectively while Simone Corsi (Team Scot Honda RS125R) will start from tenth.

“I’m quite happy,” said Dovisioso. “Even though I don’t like this track so much. We made a big step forward today but there are still parts of the track where I’m getting into slides. Tight corners follow fast corners here and hard to find a workable set-up compromise.”

Danny was less enthusiastic about his position. “That wasn’t so easy out there today,” he said. “It’s very tight but my lap times came down each time I went out and so I’ve got to be happy with that. It will be a tight race again tomorrow with so many of us so close, but after Donington I have to take points from this race.”

Honda rider quotes – Sachsenring, Saturday July 25:

MotoGP:

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Pons, 1st : “With five or six minutes to go I saw McWilliams’ time and I could hardly believe it. He must have been trying so hard on that bike. I thought I could get close but I wasn’t sure I could beat his time. But my special tyres worked really well and I was working the bike really hard too. I saw my way to a clear lap and the lap time just happened. The race will be run at a good pace and I just hope I have a good race. I’d like to thank the team for all their work and also to wish Antonio Cobas a speedy recovery. And a big thank you to all my fans here too.”

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda, 4th: “For the practice we make a not so bad result. We worked very much on the bike – we are still not at 100% and we have a few problems so tomorrow we hope to fix. We hope for a dry race and will work hard to understand about the rear tyre in the warm up to make the best choice. We tried some soft tyres for the fast lap time at the end but we went too soft. The bike lost stability so we could not improve. Anyway – we start tomorrow from the first lane and my physical condition is getting better so we hope for a good day.”

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, 5th: “Obviously I would have preferred t be on the front row but we have worked very well here and in the warm up tomorrow I hope to find a good rhythm and work on some small details on the set up. The most important thing will be to make a great start. That is vital here, because it’s so difficult to pass on this track.”

Tohru Ukawa, Camel Pramac Pons, 8th: “Yesterday I had a bit to complain about – but things are much better now. We changed the rear ride height and spring and I got much more traction. There was more grip out there on track too, but the lap times are almost unbelievable. I think if the weather holds the race pace will be around 1m 24s or maybe 25. I still need to be a bit faster in the first section of the track and I’ll be looking to make improvements there tomorrow with a few more suspension changes.”

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team: 15th: “Not so happy really. Kinda’ didn’t play the session as smart as I probably should have. I should have come in earlier and maybe got a softer tyre. I stayed out there and gotta’ lot of laps in. I’ve definitely gotta’ work on my qualifying – it’s my weakest point right now. The last 10 minutes is pretty intense and everyone really gets going fast. Anyway, I’ve got to put qualifying behind me now and look forward to the race. I’ve been going well here but it’ll be tough tom