Czech GP. 1st qualifying practice. Driver´s comments

Elías: ‘I am happy to be back at this track, because last year I won my second GP here, so I have good memories’.
Valentino Rossi, 1st: That last lap was very very good. Weve had some problems so far today mostly rear traction but weve made alterations and we seem to be going in the right direction. We have found a good Michelin tyre that gives more grip. It will be a hard race for sure. Barros is very fast and Kato is going very well, very quickly on the RCV. Tomorrow we will work more on settings to give a good race set-up and to ensure a good grid position. I hope for the same weather for Sunday. Tohru Ukawa, 8th: Weve still got quite a lot of work to do. The bike seemed to be suffering with chatter this morning and the changes we made have cured it mostly. We are making changes to both bikes and are working towards getting better overall package. I qualified here last year in thirteenth place with a time of 202.109. We are over 1 second quicker already but I still need to improve. Fonsi Nieto, 1st: I am very happy with provisional pole, but for me the important thing is that everything functions perfectly during the race. I am very focused and working hard to get a good race setting, and although todays result has been really good, tomorrow we will try some different rear suspension settings that I hope will make another improvement, and try and cut a few tenths off the time. My aim is to win the title, and here I have to reduce the advantage that Melandri has gained, so I am going to fight for this objective. The holidays I was able to relax and think about many things. I came to Brno with renewed energy, and I still havent thrown in the towel. I hope that in the race the bike works the same as today. Its very nice that my cousin Pablo and I are both on provisional pole, him in the 125 class but again the important thing is the race, because the best practice time is only to let you know that the bike is working okay, and that the team in the pits can have something to applaud. Toni Elias, 4th: This morning we didnt make a good start. I had some setting problems, but I and my team have been working hard, and little by little we have been improving. This afternoon the bike was working better, and I was able to cut two seconds off my earlier time. I am happy to be back at this track, because last year I won my second GP here, so I have good memories. This year, the 250 class is different. I have chassis and suspension problems, and we will have to work to the maximum to get them fixed. These are the same problems I had in Germany, so we have to keep on working to improve the bikes performance. Daniel Pedrosa, 2nd: I feel comfortable at this circuit, which meant I was able to find the pace quickly. Weve been concentrating on trying different tyre compounds, and for the moment the times have come easily. But we still have rear suspension problems, as in England and Germany. The bike was sliding, and I had a big scare halfway through the session. We modified the settings, and then the bike was even worse! Im not worried about that, but also not happy to be only second. Today is Friday. We still have a lot of time to improve our situation. Joan Olive, 13th: I am happy to be racing again. The summer holiday was getting a little bit too long for me. This morning we devoted to general testing, and I started to get up to a competitive pace. This track is long, so you can only do a relatively small number of laps. I was riding regularly in the 2:10s, and when I tried to improve another rider ruined that lap. The important thing is that we are working in the right direction towards tomorrow, and even more towards the race.