Japan GP. Second practice. Driver´s comments

Nieto: ‘Here, in Japan, the wild cards give everything and wet races are a real lottery’.
MotoGP. Valentino Rossi 2.06.838 sec, pole position: ‘For sure I’m happy to start from pole position, but it was not a pole at 100%. The conditions have been very strange but we have found a good set-up for all conditions and we were fastest in the wet this morning. This afternoon the conditions are for nothing, as you don’t test settings in the wet or the dry! Tomorrow we hope for dry conditions. We have done much testing over the winter and tomorrow we race. You see the real level of everybody after 21 laps on Sunday afternoon!’ Moto GP. Nicky Hayden 2.13.588 sec, grid position 23th: ‘It’s been a pretty weird weekend so far! Not one session has been the same – it’s been wet, dry and everything inbetween and I’ve even had a 4th gear crash! This morning was actually pretty good. The bike felt stable in the rain and I was putting in some good lap times. We’ve got a pre race warm up tomorrow morning where it’ll hopefully be dry and when the bell rings I’ll just have to try to get a good start! It’s been a while since I’ve started on the 6th row of a grid!’250. Fonsi Nieto 2´22.457 sec, 8th, grid position 9th: ‘I had several problems during the free practice this morning, but in the afternoon, we made some changes that improved the bike. These have been the worst conditions I’ve experienced since I’m in the World Championship, because the track was neither wet nor dry. We weren’t able to work and it’s been crazy for all the riders. Now I’m only thinking about tomorrow’s race, but we have to be conservative and try to finish as good as possible. Here, in Japan, the wild cards give everything and wet races are a real lottery. Despite it all, we’ll start tomorrow from the ninth position.’250. Toni Elias 2´29.313 sec, 9th, grid position 27th: ‘I’m not happy because under these conditions I haven’t been able to improve my times. I’ve also suffered a crash only one minute before the end of the session. I was riding fast because I wanted to improve my times in order to qualify but it’s been impossible under these conditions. Well, at least I tried and finally the Race Direction, according to the Regulations, accepted to let me take the start tomorrow at the Grand Prix. I have good settings for tomorrow, either if it’s a wet or a dry race. It will be a hard race anyway, because I’ll start from a back position. I’ll try to do everything I can.’250. Sebastián Porto, 2.29´803 sec, 10th, grid position 6th: ‘It’s been raining all day, especially in the morning, and that made the practices a bit complicated. It’s been my first time on a wet track with this bike, we had no wet settings and we had some problems with the set-ups. In the afternoon we changed very much on the settings and the bike improved its behaviour. Considering the weather conditions I think that our result is good and we’ve been quite competitive. We’ll see what the weather will bring tomorrow.’250. Héctor Faubel, 2.38´285 sec, 28th, grid position 18th: ‘The track was wet and I had a heavy crash. I lost control over the bike at the same corner I crashed last year, although I can’t remember what really happened this time. I’ll have to undergo a medical check tomorrow before the race; let’s see what the doctors say, Although I hope to be able to take the start.’250. Joan Olivé, 2.38´341 sec, 29th, grid position 30th: ‘The truth is that the track conditions didn’t help us at all. It started to rain heavily and we were not able to improve yesterday’s times. Since it had been raining during yesterday’s practices as well, I wasn’t able to make any fast lap and I will be starting from the back. The weather forecast for tomorrow is sunny, so the race should be OK.’125. Dani Pedrosa, 2.37´696 sec, 30th, grid position 2nd: It rained a lot this morning and it changed all our plans. We wanted to do a series of tests but its been impossible. And in the afternoon, more problems. This time the track had some wet and some dry sections, so again it was impossible to test anything. Under these track conditions it is better to be careful, because a single error can be very expensive. Ill start tomorrow from the second position of the grid and well see if were capable of turning this position into a good race result.125. Pablo Nieto, 2.36´576 sec, 27th, grid position 11th: Its been raining all day, it stopped for a moment and it seemed that the track would get dry but it started raining again. We finally rode half of the time on a dry track and the rest on a wet track. I finished eleventh and tomorrow Ill start from the third row of the grid, its not an especially good position but it isnt that bad, its enough to win the race.125. Héctor Barberá, 2.31´238 sec, 17th, grid position 9th: This morning, the free practice was under wet conditions and the settings worked fine. I wasnt able to improve my time in the afternoon, because the track was half wet. I tested some engine pieces that worked better. I think that we have now the right settings, both for dry and for wet conditions, so depending on the weather tomorrow well be able to try and do it the best we can.