Driver´s comments

Nieto: ‘I think race will be similar to the race in Donington, but I am going to try to make sure that victory doesnt escape me’.
Tohru Ukawa, 5th: Actually pretty happy with fifth after all that Ive been through over the last week. I really wasnt sure yesterday morning if I could make it through the weekend. We did many adjustments in the early part of the session to get the balance of the bike right; adjustments to the ride height and the suspension. Now I can get power down and the bike feels good. The Sachsenring is difficult to overtake on so I will be hoping to make a great start. For me it will be a long race. I am still very tired. Valentino Rossi, 6th: We have a lot of work to do. Basically we had a good set-up this morning. The bike felt strong in most places. I could ride fast with the same rhythm. The bike was very much easier to stop and was handling sweet. In this afternoons session it feels very different. Maybe its the track temperature. We will have to look at the data and see whats changed. In many places around the circuit the tyre is now spinning and I cant hold such a tight line. I seem to be going too wide in many of sections. We must improve for the race set-up. Fonsi Nieto, 1st: Basically, I am very satisfied with our performance so far this weekend. I worked hard to find the correct settings for the race, and also to find a fast and constant pace. It seems that we got it, because I was fastest in all the sessions. But until tomorrow after the race, I cannot claim victory. It was impossible to improve yesterdays qualifying time in the afternoon session, because this is a short track, and in the last minutes there was a lot of traffic that meant I couldnt get a better lap. This session was a little strange. It was similar to 125s, where we kept getting in each others way, and very few people did improve their times. Tomorrow will be a difficult race, because 29 laps is really a lot. I think it will be similar to the race in Donington, but I am going to try to make sure that victory doesnt escape me, because four times in a row is already too much. Toni Elias, 9th: Im not satisfied with the way things have gone. Yesterday, in the morning, I had a crash, and today this situation was repeated in free practice & but this time it happened in the same turn where I fell last year. Its a flat-out fifth-gear turn where you are going really fast. My machine was destroyed, but luckily I didnt suffer anything too serious. I hit my left hand hard, which bothers me a little, but not too much. We kept working, but we still havent found the correct setting. Were going to see if we can improve in the warm-up, and in the race I will do everything I can to be with the leading group and get a good result. Daniel Pedrosa, 8th: We havent been able to resolve our rear suspension problems yet. All weekend weve been testing every type of set-up, but the rear keeps on sliding. We still have some more things to test, and I am confident that in tomorrow mornings warm-up we can find the key. This is a very twisty track, and narrow in its first half, so I hope tomorrow to make a good start. The lap times are so close over the whole field that you need to be near the front. The target is still to end the race and go into the summer break with the maximum possible points. Joan Olive, 15th: It was a very hard session. In general, the pace is very fast, and an improvement of 1.5 seconds compared with yesterday has only gained me one position. The bike hasnt improved as much as we expected after this morning, so this lap time was a big effort. The only positive is that we know that this afternoon we followed the wrong line, so I am sure if we take a step back well be able to get the suspension more or less correct for the race.