The Texas Tornado, Colin Edwards, is targeting a top five result at his second home race of the season in tomorrow’s Indianapolis Grand Prix at the legendary Racing Capital of the World.

Edwards qualified fifth fastest today with a slick performance that could have been even better except for a harmless crash with eight minutes remaining.

Edwards had just posted his fastest time of 1.40.961 and was on the pace for a possible front row start when he crashed over a bump at turn six. Edwards had been comfortably in the top five throughout the one hour session.

Meanwhile Briton James Toseland is also in strong position for a top ten result in tomorrow’s 28 lap race following a confidence boosting set-up change to his Monster Yamaha Tech3 YZR-M1.

Toseland sliced a massive 1.5s off his morning free practice time to qualify tenth. He was bumped from a certain 8th position when he was slowed by traffic on his final lap.

Qualifying was run in warm and sunny conditions, a dramatic contrast to yesterday’s gloomy and wet opening practice session for the 12th race of the season.

Colin Edwards 5 th.1.40.961 — 21 laps

“I’m excited, I’m starting on the second row and I ‘I’ve got a good race pace and if I keep today’s pace it should be an easy top five, maybe even a fight for the podium. We’ve got a good direction with Bridgestone on tires and have a choice of either the hard or soft option, depending on the weather. I felt really comfortable and confident the whole session. I would like to say that I didn’t do anything wrong when I crashed but I guess I did, I hit the one bump that is in turn six. With the suspension compressed, the bike leaned over and big bump the two didn’t mix. It’s kind of deceiving, you don’t know where you are, the corner has a decreasing radius. I can’t decide whether to go around the bump or inside it. I had just just done my fastest lap and I felt I had more in it and I was already 0.2s faster on the first split so I thought a 1.40.4 was possible but I didn’t do it.”

James Toseland 10th. 1.41.620 — 26 laps

“I’m confident for race, I was good in the wet yesterday and now we have a strong set-up for the dry and the changes have given me a better feeling. I’ve gone nearly two seconds quicker than I did this morning and I’m really pleased with that, so thanks to the team for all their work. It’s just shame that I caught Marco Melandri on the last lap and he made a mistake at the last corner and unfortunately just slowed me up a bit, It wasn’t Marco’s fault I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We were both pushing. I was 0.3s up on Marco at that point and still did my equal best lap of the session so I reckon I could have be 0.4s.faster overall. We’ve made a really positive change to the front-end geometry, just raked it out a bit .I’ve sacrificed some weight on the front to get more rear traction and that’s where time is coming from.”

James Toseland produced a skilful display of wet weather riding at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway today, the British rider a hugely encouraging sixth quickest in a rain-lashed first MotoGP practice session.

The 28-year-old quickly mastered treacherous conditions and varying grip levels to occupy a top three place for much of the opening half of the session as round 12 of the 2009 MotoGP world championship started under grey and gloomy skies at the historic Indy circuit.

Using a new softer wet weather suspension setting on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine, Toseland was as high as second position before he finished in an encouraging sixth place.

His best time of 1.52.888 was just over 1.3s away from Dani Pedrosa’s best pace and 0.240s quicker than team-mate Edwards.

Making a solid and steady start to his second home race in less than three months, Texan Edwards grew in confidence and a best lap of 1.53.128 in the final stages secured him eighth position

Edwards is bidding for an incredible 20th successive points-scoring finish in Sunday’s 28-lap race and will be boosted by forecasts for much more favourable weather conditions over the remainder of the weekend.

James Toseland 6th 1.52.588 – 18 laps

“I’m really happy with that session and it was definitely the positive way I wanted to start the weekend. For most of the session I was running in the top four or higher once I’d built up my confidence after the first few laps. I went with a wet setting that was a bit softer than usual and it worked really well and gave me a lot of confidence with the front-end. I could really push in the places where you could make up a bit of time and that helped me a lot. This track is really strange in the wet with the different sections of tarmac. Some places it can seem really dangerous with a lot of standing water and in another part the grip is phenomenal and it feels so good you can almost push like you’re riding in the dry. Some sections of the track are so good in the wet it’s better than Assen, and that was always the best track for grip in the wet. At times it almost feels like you are going from a wet to a dry track. You need to have a compromise with the setting because of that but my team did a great job today with the soft setting and if we get some more bad weather we look in really good shape. Hopefully it will be dry and we can put on a good show for the Indy fans.”

Colin Edwards 8th 1.53.128 – 22 laps

“I can’t believe we waited a whole year to come back to this amazing venue after what happened with the weather in 2008 and it ends up raining again. Hopefully for tomorrow we’ll get a dry track and also on Sunday so the fans will get to see MotoGP at its best. This place really freaks me out because some sections of the track look really slippery. But in reality there is so much grip that you can ride almost like it’s dry. You can be so aggressive in some parts that at the start you have to convince yourself just how hard you can push. The track is so wet it looks like a mirror but that’s where you can really attack with such good grip. You just have to take bigger bites each lap and how fast you go depends if you hit some of the standing water on the new sections. Thankfully the forecast is for dry weather for the rest of the weekend, but if it changes I’m sure we’ve got a really good wet setting and we definitely learned some things that will help for the future.”

Refreshed after a thoroughly deserved summer break, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team made a fast and promising return to MotoGP action at the Brno circuit today.

Boosted by his brilliant second place finish in the British GP at Donington Park, Colin Edwards continued his impressive 2009 form by clocking the fourth quickest time in today’s opening practice session.

A best lap of 1.57.741 saw Edwards miss a top three finish by just 0.157s, the 35-year-old helping Yamaha secure three of the top four places as the YZR-M1 machine dominated proceedings.

Edwards is confident his encouraging start will boost his chances of claiming his first top six finish in the Czech Republic in Sunday’s 22-lap race, with the American lapping consistently in the top five throughout.

British rider James Toseland, who equalled his career best MotoGP result with an accomplished display in tricky conditions at Donington Park last month, ended the session with the 11th best time. The 28-year-old is confident of big improvements tomorrow as he made significant progress in solving a small front-end issue on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team YZR-M1.

Today’s practice also gave the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team its first experience of the new MotoGP engine restrictions. Edwards and Toseland are now only permitted to use five engines in the final seven races as part of a cost-cutting drive to reduce engine mileage.

Colin Edwards 4th 1.57 741 – 23 laps

“I’m happy to be high up and in fourth because I feel in really good shape and we’ve carried the confidence gained in Donington to this race. I feel really happy with the bike because we played with the setting a little bit just to get some more speed through the chicanes. That’s crucial at this track. You need to brake late but then release the brake early and carry the momentum through the chicanes. The balance of the bike is almost there, but I’ve not felt this good after the first hour for a long time. So I feel like I’m way ahead of the game at the moment. We’ve got these new engine restrictions to work with now and I don’t know if my head is being completely accurate, but I could feel a little bit of a difference. The engine felt smoother but just a little bit flatter at the top. But if there’s been any power loss it’s not that much, but the character is a little bit different.”

James Toseland 11th 1.58.764 – 22 laps

“I had a small problem with the front-end at the start of the session and it took us a while to get that fixed to the point where I felt I could have gone much faster. I had slightly softer springs in the front but it wasn’t loading the front tire enough. It made it really difficult to turn the bike in the long chicanes and being fast in those sections is crucial at this track. We got there in the end but it just took a while. By the end I was running comfortably in the 1.58s, but I’d done nearly 20 laps on the rear tire and it just started to move a little. I felt comfortable doing that time on old tires, so I’m sure now we’ve found a good direction with the front that I can go much quicker tomorrow. The new engine rule hasn’t changed too much for me, only that we’re only running one bike on Friday and Saturday and then another on race day to keep the mileage down on both.”

Mixed conditions dominated the start of the final British MotoGP race at Donington Park today with Colin Edwards and James Toseland making an encouraging start for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.

The session started in soaking wet conditions after an earlier deluge, but typically unpredictable Donington conditions saw it end on a virtually dry track after sun and strong winds took over for the second half of the session.

Edwards, twice a Donington Park podium finisher, finished in eighth position with a best time of 1.39.379 that left him just 0.752s off Dani Pedrosa’s leading pace.
Experimenting with different weight distribution settings to improve front-end feel on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 machine, Edwards was satisfied with his performance in both wet and dry conditions.

Toseland made an assured start to his crucial home race, the British rider slowly building up his speed in full wet conditions before he started a brilliant surge up the timesheets as the track dried rapidly.
Just 25 minutes remained when Toseland found himself in third place and faster than reigning world champion and Donington Park specialist Valentino Rossi.

Cheered on by a large home crowd, Toseland looked certain to claim a morale-boosting top six until he slipped down the rankings in the closing stages when track conditions better than at any other stage in the session.
He ended 12th quickest with a best time of 1.40.522, but is confident of moving much higher up the leaderboard tomorrow.

Colin Edwards 9th 1.39.379 – 25 laps
“It was mixed conditions and that made it tough but it was probably the best conditions because we got some wet set-up time and at the end it was drying out really fast. And even though I was still on the wet tires when it was dry, we gained a lot of information. I’m pretty happy because in the wet I was sitting in the top five comfortably and as it dried out I was looking good in the first three sections. But in the last section I was losing half-a-second. That was still the wettest section but I could have pushed harder. I felt like I was pushing but when you think you’re on the edge you still might have another 15 per cent to go. But it’s hard to gauge in those conditions until you’re either on top of the charts or in the gravel trap. I think we learned a lot and we made some big progress with the front-end problems I’ve been having. We’ve been experimenting with body position to try and help improve the front and it seems to have worked. We’re going more in (Jorge) Lorenzo’s direction to get a bit more weight on the rear and not overloading the front. So I’m happy and looking for another good result at Donington.”

James Toseland 12th 1.40.522 – 32 laps
“I didn’t have much feeling with the bike when it was full wet but it just kept drying out and I knew the bike set-up would suit the conditions better when it was drying up. So I didn’t think there was any point in coming if the track conditions were going to get better and I decided to stay out. I did a lot of laps in the mixed conditions in Germany last weekend and that really helped me out a lot today. I just kept improving and improving but unfortunately because I stayed out for the session I ran out of fuel right at the time when the track conditions were the best they had been for the whole hour. I wasn’t sure how much time was left but having done 28 laps I knew it was going to be close on the fuel. It’s a shame because I slipped down the order a little bit but I’m happy because most of that session I was right in the mix in the top six and it was pretty encouraging. This weekend is very important for me and as always I put my maximum effort into that session to start the weekend off on a positive note and I think I’ve done that. I’ve got unbelievable support here already and that makes me determined to get a good result on Sunday.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland battled atrocious conditions at the Sachsenring today to qualify seventh and fourteenth on the grid respectively for the German MotoGP race.

Torrential rain battered the tight and twisty Sachsenring track for most of the qualifying session, with Edwards clocking a best time of 1.34.607 to finish just 0.3s off a brilliant fourth position.

Edwards battled rear grip issues for the majority of the session, but crucial late changes with his Tech 3 crew boosted the American’s confidence that he can put his YZR-M1 in contention for a top six finish in tomorrow’s 30-lap race.

James Toseland, who had a small crash this morning on the approach to the third corner, was left trailing down in 14th place despite a hugely encouraging session. The British rider produced his best form in wet conditions in 2009, but he got little reward for his hard work with a best time of 1.35.005 just over 0.4s off sixth position and a place on the second row of the grid.  Toseland is still confident he can mount an attack on the top ten tomorrow, the 28-year-old looking for a morale-boosting result ahead of his home race at Donington Park next weekend.

Colin Edwards 7th 1.34.607 – 26 laps
“It was a bit of a struggle to be honest, so to be as high as seventh, I’m not going to complain too much. I thought we’d made a big step with the wet set-up yesterday but the rain was much harder this afternoon and the track temperature was a lot cooler. I knew two laps into it that I’d got no feeling from the rear. We made a couple of changes and the lap times were getting a bit better but each time I wanted to push the rear would just come round on me. The Bridgestone front rain tire is just awesome and you can do what you want with it. If I could chop the bike in half and just ride the front around here it would be fantastic. But as soon as I load the rear tire it comes round on me and picks me up. I want to push and go faster, but the faster I go the more load I’m generating and that just pushes the rear out even more. The balance isn’t quite right because I feel like I’m riding well in the rain. Tomorrow is all about getting a good start with it being hard to overtake. And the start pretty much determines which group you’re going to be battling in. The new electronics I’ve got though are unbelievable. I don’t want to curse myself but my starts have been phenomenal and I need to thank Yamaha because the new electronics have helped me massively.”

James Toseland 14th 1.35.005 – 28 laps
“I’m gutted. I felt like I was riding really well, so to come in and see myself four-tenths of sixth is hard to swallow. If I wasn’t riding well and not putting in the effort I know I am, I wouldn’t be so frustrated. I had my best feeling in the wet for a long time and I knew I was riding well, but each time I came across the line I was seeing P12 or P13. And then to find out I’m so close to a top six is really frustrating. We kept one set of tires through the whole session and just as I did my quickest lap time the rain started coming again and there was a little bit more water. I’d used the best grip of my tire and I couldn’t go any quicker. So instead of sitting here in sixth or seventh with a big smile on my face and feeling confident of a good result, I’m fourteenth and that makes it a tough race with it being so hard to overtake. But my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 have done an amazing job to give me a good bike for the wet and build my confidence. We kept going softer with the set-up because the edge grip on the Bridgestone rain tire is amazing. It will be a tough race with overtaking so difficult on this track, but as always I’ll be giving it my all.”

Colin Edwards and James Toseland got their German MotoGP challenge off to a solid start at a weather-hit Sachsenring circuit today.

Evaluating an upgraded electronics package from Yamaha to help acceleration exiting corners, American Edwards was a promising sixth quickest and Toseland upbeat despite finishing 14th in mixed conditions.

Today’s session started on a wet track after a powerful storm drenched the track during the earlier 125GP session. With forecasts for more unpredictable weather during the weekend, Edwards and Toseland gained valuable experience on Bridgestone’s rain tyre before conditions improved significantly for the second half of the session.

Switching to full slick tyres for the final 25 minutes as the track dried rapidly, Edwards was immediately able to lap consistently in the top six, the 35-year-old making big progress in eradicating the front-end problems that have hindered him recently. Edwards’ best time of 1.23.295 put him second in the closing stages before he eventually ended sixth, just over 0.2s outside of the top three.

Toseland was also satisfied with his best time of 1.24.317, the British rider opting to continue using his rain tyre in damp conditions in case of a repeat of the flag-to-flag races in Le Mans and Mugello. Both races started on a wet track and finished in the dry. Having gained crucial data when he switched to slick tyres to improve the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine, Toseland is confident that he can climb higher up the timesheets tomorrow in wet or dry conditions.

Colin Edwards 6th 1.23.295 – 29 laps
“Looking at last year’s race I knew the Bridgestone rain tyre was awesome, so it gave me chance to sort some of the issues out I’ve had in the wet recently. Previously I’ve had too much weight on the rear but now we’ve got it more balanced and it felt really good. For the dry we went back to my old setting that I pretty much rolled out at the first race in Qatar with and it was like coming home. We’d gone off the right path and I’ve not had any feeling with the front in the last few races. The bike hasn’t been turning but the changes we’ve made with the front forks have transformed the way I feel. Now the bike is doing what I want it to because before I couldn’t get the front set-up, I couldn’t get into the corner and I had too much weight on the front with no feeling and no confidence. Now there’s more weight on the rear and I can control weight transfer more without it all pushing to the front. I tried some new electronics today too and they are fantastic. It used to be so much effort to manage the bike under acceleration, but now it is incredible. I want to say a massive thanks to Yamaha because what they have put on my bike is like gold dust. It’s a lot less effort to control the bike when I’m accelerating and it is giving me some crucial tenths.”

James Toseland 14th 1.24.317 – 32 laps
“It wasn’t a bad session even though I’m down the timesheets because we’ve gathered a lot of information in the wet and dry. It was important to do a few laps in the wet and we found we didn’t have a great setting. So that was good to discover because it looks like there’s a big chance of rain for the rest of the weekend. I spent a bit too much time on the wet tyres basically, even when it was drying up while the other guys were already out on slicks. I wanted to check on the wet tyres and get a feel for them just in case it does dry up for the race like it did in Le Mans and Mugello. In the damp conditions I had a big moment too and really hit my right leg hard. I was out of the seat at Turn Eight and I smacked my foot on the rear brake lever so hard that it was all bent. It was painful but luckily it caught me on the protective part of my boot, otherwise I could have done myself some damage. By the time I put the slicks on and made a few changes to my set-up it was a little bit too late to get close to the speed of the others but I’m sure I could have got in the 1.23s. We had some new electronics from Yamaha and it is a big step. I’ve got to say a big thanks to Yamaha for helping me out. These bikes have got so much horsepower that with a bit more control under acceleration, it’s amazing how much easier it feels. It has really helped me coming out of the corner and I can control the bike much better.”

Colin Edwards’ determined ride in his home race at Laguna Seca today achieved a personal milestone for the popular Texan, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider scoring his 100th point-scoring Grand Prix finish. Edwards started and finished the 32-lap in seventh to become only the 14th rider in the 61-year history of world championship racing to score points in 100 races.

Slipping to ninth on the opening lap, Edwards fought his way back into seventh on lap seven and began a pursuit of a battle for fifth place involving Spaniard Toni Elias and compatriot Nicky Hayden.

Edwards, who has only failed to score points in 10 of his premier class appearances, closed to within two seconds of Elias on lap 12. But his hopes of a fourth top six finish in 2009 were ended when he ran into front-end issues during the second half of the race, staged in front of a home crowd of 46,679 fans.
Edwards is now fifth in the individual standings and his latest result ensured the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team remains firmly in contention for fourth place in the Team World Championship, the French-based team trailing Suzuki’s factory squad by just two-points after eight races.

It was a disappointing day for British rider James Toseland. Having been adjudged to have jumped the start from 15th on the grid, Toseland failed to stop for a ride through penalty within the allotted time and was subsequently black flagged and excluded from the results on lap 11.

Colin Edwards 7th – 76 points
“It’s great to score my 100th points finish in front of my home fans and doing it for Monster, Yamaha and Tech 3 who have given me great support. But I expect more than finishing seventh. I’m pretty tired now and it was a really physical race because I couldn’t get the bike to turn. Each time I threw it on its side it just went straight out to the kerb. I was using a lot of effort to get the bike to turn and it felt like the front forks were sitting between my legs. When I braked the front didn’t feel like it was coming back up. It felt like the front was buried in the ground and just pushed me out to the edge of the track. I ride over the front a lot but today it felt like I was crawling all over it, almost like I was sitting on top of the tank. It wasn’t super special and we’ve got to go back to the drawing board I think for Germany. My pace was consistent and I was doing between 22.9 or 23.1 the whole race, but that just wasn’t fast enough.”

James Toseland DNF – 39 points
“There’s not much I can say really other than it was a tough weekend. I feel like the jump start was pretty harsh. I knew it was close but I didn’t think I’d jumped the start and that early in a 32-lap race I’m not looking at my pitboard. I was just concentrating on catching the guy in front and the first thing I realised that I’d been penalised was when I saw the black flag and my number. Obviously if I’d known I’d jumped the start then I would have come in but I’ve watched the TV replay and you can’t see anything. I didn’t gain any places either so in my opinion it’s pretty harsh. It’s a setback but I’ve just got to get on with it and bounce back in Germany.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was a tough weekend but Colin still had a good race. He had a good pace and while it wasn’t fast enough to be on the podium he got some good points and now he’s fifth in the championship and still the top independent team rider. It was also his 100th point-scoring finish in MotoGP and I’m pleased that he has achieved that with the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha Team. Colin has done a fantastic job for our team and it shows what a consistent performer he has been for Yamaha. For James it was a big disappointment because although it was a difficult weekend I think a top ten finish could have been possible. It was a marginal jump start but that’s the rule, it is the same for everybody. Unfortunately he didn’t see the signal to ride through the pits, so he learned a lesson today.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland are confident they can make big improvements in Laguna Seca after an encouraging start to the American Grand Prix this afternoon. Home favourite Edwards and British rider Toseland were both challenging for the top five in the early stages of a session run in gloriously sunny California conditions.

Brimming with confidence after equalling his best result of the season with fourth place in Assen just six days ago, Edwards eventually finished ninth with a best time of 1.23.285.

Looking to score his 100th point-scoring Grand Prix finish in Sunday’s 32-lap clash, Edwards is confident he can drastically improve his pace having encountered some front and rear suspension issues today. The 35-year-old though was only 0.6s away from fourth place.

Boosted by his season best sixth place in Assen last weekend, Toseland finished in 13th place with a best time of 1.23.690s, though he was less than a second off sixth in another close session.

With Fiat Yamaha Team Director Masahiko Nakajima again helping the 28-year-old this weekend, Toseland will work hard with his team tonight to find a setting to improve rear grip ahead of title sponsor Monster’s all-important home race on Sunday.

Colin Edwards 9th 1.23.285 – 29 laps
“It wasn’t the great start to my home race I was looking for and the bike feels just way too stiff. The main problem is in the hard braking because I’ve no feeling with the bike bouncing around on me. There’s just not enough movement from the suspension. When you’ve got the handlebars moving and up and down and the seat moving up and down it’s obvious the suspension is not absorbing the bumps enough. There are some huge bumps out there and today it felt a bit like motocross. So we’ll soften it up for tomorrow and make the suspension react faster and let it move more freely rather than having a jerky and bouncing sensation. It feels like there’s a second waiting right in front of me but I’m a bit handcuffed at the moment. Once we fix these issues, and I know we will because my guys at Tech 3 are awesome, I’m not going to have to push and hang it out to find the time. I know it will come immediately as soon as we get the bike working. I’m confident we can find what we need and put on a good show for the American fans and for Monster’s home race.”

James Toseland 13th 1.23.690 – 31 laps
“The position isn’t that great but I feel like it was a pretty decent session. We’ve got a bit of work to do but there is no need to panic. We’re just missing a bit on the set-up really. I’m lacking a bit of edge grip on the harder rear tire, and that is the one we’re going to have to race with looking at the temperature. This track isn’t quite as good for grip as Assen and we know what we’ve got to do to get more grip from the rear but we just ran out of time at the end of the session. And I’m still adapting to the new set-up we had in Assen because that changed the balance of the bike quite a lot. With the tighter corners and the undulation it just takes a bit of getting used to being so different to Assen. I’m confident with the bike a bit more comfortable that I can go quite a bit faster and be up there challenging for a good result for Monster in what is a massive race for our sponsor.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards was in sparkling form during qualifying for the Italian MotoGP to secure a place on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s eagerly anticipated Mugello race.

The Texan made a blistering start to the session, immediately fighting his way into the top three as Yamaha dominated the early stages with Jorge Lorenzo and home hero Valentino Rossi also in early contention for pole position.

Working on front-end geometry settings to improve the agility of his YZR-M1 machine for the fast changes of direction at the spectacular Mugello circuit, Edwards clocked his best time of 1.49.547 with 13 minutes remaining. That put him third quickest, but in an enthralling final ten minutes of a session run in sunny conditions, the 35-year-old slipped down to the second row for tomorrow’s 23-lap race, ending just 0.4s off the front row.

British rider James Toseland had to settle for 14th place on the grid with a best time of 1.50.537, though he is confident he has the pace on race tires to mount an assault on the top eight tomorrow. Toseland found it difficult to find a comfortable rear shock setting to help the 28-year-old take full advantage of the extra grip from the soft rear Bridgestone tire. He set his best time on his last flying lap and he was only 0.5s away from a place on the third row and 0.2s outside of the top ten.

Colin Edwards 6th 1.49.547 – 23 laps
“I never plan on going out and following anybody but right at the start of the session Valentino (Rossi) was right in front of me and he had no problem with me following. So taking into account he’s the Mugello expert I got in behind him to see if I could learn something and I picked up a couple of tricks. In a couple of places like the chicanes he hits the apex later at the first part to get a better drive out of the second part. I was more sweeping through them without getting a really good drive, so that helped me a bit. I was out on an old front tire and a new rear and my race times were pretty consistent and I’m sure I can run 1.49s in the race. For me the harder rear tire, which we’ll have to use because of the high track temperature, has just as much grip as the softer one, which shows what a great job Bridgestone has done. I had a couple of small issues with front-end movement, which we improved and that’s a big bonus. We changed the geometry to help with the front stability and it helped make the bike much more agile. And that’s crucial here with the fast changes of direction. You really need to flow round here without having to muscle the bike around because that gets pretty tough for 23 laps. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and putting on a good show for my guys at Tech 3 who have been awesome again.”

James Toseland 14th 1.50.537- 24 laps
“I’m pretty frustrated because I feel I should be much higher up the grid. As I know from other races earlier this season, while I can run the lap times from around sixth to tenth place, the times in this class are so close that it can be hard to fight your way through in the race. So being on the fifth row makes it incredibly difficult. We were playing around with the suspension settings all weekend and been going in the right direction, but when I upped my pace on the softer compound tire the rear shock setting wasn’t quite right. When the rear tire was loaded as I opened the throttle it just had a harsh feeling with little movement, so we weren’t finding as much grip from the tire as we could do. We made some changes in the session without making any big progress and right at the end on my last soft tire we found something a bit better. But it was too late unfortunately and if we had found that direction a bit earlier it would have given me more time to build up my pace on the softer tire. I’m frustrated because I feel I can be strong at this track, but I’ll work hard with my guys tonight to try and find a better setting. I’m still confident that I can do good times in the race and gain a few places for a good result and as always I’ll never give up.”