We got things right in practice but we did not know how to get things right in the race. Everything pointed to a promising, successful Sunday. During practice we were the fastest, setting good times and the fastest lap. Dani was able to set the fastest laps with either of the two bikes, each with a different set up, so as to get the best balance for the Sunday.
But rain fell on the Sunday to ruin the best laid plans for the race. One lap before Dani had decided to make a pit-stop and change bike, with dry tyres, the rear wheel skidded and he was thrown off his bike.Before the start it had already stopped raining and so it was foreseeable that the track would dry out and a change of bike would be necessary.
We always have the second bike ready with the same set up and tyres as the race bike. In this case the bike was set up for rain. After the first lap we quickly began to change the set up on the second bike: front suspension, rear suspension, brakes and tyres and on the lookout for when Dani decided to enter the pits. It is obvious that we did not know how to interpret the race and he never got to change his bike.
Over the last three races I think we have improved the whole balance; the tyres are working well and the bike`s performance has got better. In Japan Dani`s bike was the fastest.The team had two days of practice scheduled after the race, but Dani was injured when he fell and had to go back to Barcelona for tests to get a diagnosis.It seems that he has nothing serious and will be able to race in Australia and hopefully get us a magnificent result.
