French GP. 2nd qualifying practice. Driver´s comments

Nieto: ‘Bike and team are functioning perfectly’
Repsol driver´s comments about French GP 2nd qualifying practice.Valentino Rossi, 1st MotoGP: ‘That was a hard battle. I went for a softer tyre half way through the session and went really hard. I saw P2 on the board after the fast lap so I knew I had to try another time even though the tyre was sliding a lot. I am very happy with pole. This is my fourth in a row. I have never done that before in my career. It will be a hard fight for the race tomorrow. Yamaha have improved a lot.’Tohru Ukawa, 4th MotoGP: ‘I’m very happy to be on the front row. I won here in 2000 on the 250cc and fell last year after qualifying 12th on the NSR500. The bike set-up was much better this afternoon but I still have a slightly vague feeling from it but the changes we made in set-up from this morning with tyres and suspension have all helped. I’m not so keen on the track. Tomorrow, I’ll do my best.’Fonsi Nieto, 1st 250: ‘Being in the front is very good, although the important thing is that I have a good pace and rhythm, and both bike and team are functioning perfectly. I am happy to get pole here at Le Mans. If it doesn’t rain tomorrow I think it will be possible to win, although de Puniet will be very hard to beat here at home, and will surely give everything to win, as I did at Jerez. Tomorrow I’d like to cross the finish line first, but if this doesn’t happen I will try to take maximum possible points. At this time, the most important thing for me is the championship. At every race I am feeling more comfortable with my bike. I hope tomorrow the weather is kind to us, because a wet race is a complete lottery, and the smallest error can make you crash. If I hadn’t crashed in Japan, I would now have a very valuable championship lead.’Toni Elías 5th 250 : ‘I am very satisfied with the way everything has been going this whole weekend. This morning we had the fastest time, and in qualifying we lost the front row only in the last minutes. But I am still happy because until now we had many problems. In spite of this, we kept working hard on the chassis settings and suspension to get the bike to my liking. We made big changes to the chassis geometry here at Le Mans, changes that made a big improvement, and allow me to ride with more confidence. Tomorrow’s race won’t be easy, but I will try and make a good start so that the leading group doesn’t leave me behind, and try to maintain a good pace.’Daniel Pedrosa 3rd 125: ‘Today the bike ran better -but this morning my own focus was not so good. In the afternoon we found solutions to the little problems we were having, and I was also able to make more effort for my own part. Yesterday I wasn’t happy with my qualifying, but this afternoon I concentrated well, and now I am feeling comfortable with the bike and with the circuit. I’m confident I can make a good race tomorrow.’Joan Olivé 14th 125: ‘Despite the engine problems I had, I’m quite happy with the result of the practice sessions. I lost almost half of the session trying to solve those problems and could only make three good laps. If I’ve been able to ride under such conditions at 1.50, i.e. more than one second faster than yesterday, I’m sure that I’ll be able to improve it tomorrow and to be among the leading group ‘.