Chris Vermeulen from Motegi tells us about the cancelled qualifying session and below what the other riders had to say.
Casey Stoner “It would be strange to go through a whole season and have one session that you can’t ride in, so it’s amazing that we’ve had this situation occur in each of the opening two rounds.
It’s unbelievable, the rain we’ve had and I’d probably be feeling angry and frustrated right now if it wasn’t for the fact we’re on the front row! It is a difficult situation for everybody to have had so little track time here but we’re all, almost literally, in the same boat! With just 45 minutes of dry time and 45 minutes of wet there are obviously plenty of areas we feel with could improve the bike but, like I say, it is the same situation for all the riders.
I’m confident we have a set-up to do decent lap times in both the wet and the dry.
In any case it’s good to have a longer [40 minute] warm up tomorrow morning and I hope the circuit will be dry”.
Nicky HaydenIt’s a shame for everybody to have this situation two races in a row.
The fans, the teams, the riders… everybody wants to see us line up out there and go into battle so it’s a real shame.
This morning was the first chance I’ve really had to ride the bike in the rain – I’ve ridden it in damp conditions but never really in full rain – and I got steadily faster and faster as the session went on.
We made some changes that consistently improved the bike and to be honest with you I was looking forward to qualifying in the wet.
I liked my chances better in the wet today and I’m not sure what conditions I’d prefer for the race.
The forecast is saying it will be dry and after today I think the fans deserve it.
For me the circumstances have been unlucky because I need track time with the bike and tyres, especially when we going to tracks for the first time, but it’s race day tomorrow so whatever the weather brings the aim is to just get a good start, go for it and see what happens.
Good to know that the warm up will be 40 minutes!” Colin Edwards“It was impossible to ride out there.
There was a lot of standing water and it wasn’t even worth going out and trying.
This morning was really good in the rain, though I have to say thanks to Valentino and his crew because they got a pretty good rain setting from last year.
But this is the first day I’ve been on the Bridgestone rain tyre.
I ran it in Jerez in testing but it was just damp and nowhere near full wet.
The rain tyres are really impressive.
You can actually push them and get load and that to me is a new thing.
Before I’ve just had to roll around in the rain and not really have the feel to push too hard.
The Bridgestone front rain tyre is like their slick, it’s just magic.
I’m a front-end guy and the confidence it gives is amazing.
It is a bit annoying that I couldn’t go out this afternoon and try for the front row but I’m happy with fifth.
It’s a shame I didn’t go out on the soft tyre yesterday but I got a full 19 laps experience on the hard tyre, and that will be the race tyre.
If the temperature comes up a bit too I should be in even better shape.
So rain or shine I feel ready for a good race.
” James Toseland“If it is dry tomorrow I mostly ran the hard tyre yesterday, so hopefully I’ll be sat on the grid in a little bit better position than some of the others.
I’m a bit annoyed because until the end of yesterday’s session I was in sixth or seventh, and if I’d put another tyre in I could have been on the second row maybe, which would have been great.
I feel with the set-up we have and the distance I’ve done on the hard tyres puts me in good shape for the race.
Valentino Rossi“It is unbelievable.
Last year almost every grand prix had some rain, but this year is even worse.
We had the problem in Qatar and here it is a disaster.
For sure it is not a great idea to come to Motegi in April because the weather is always quite bad.
So now we’re going into a race after just 45 minutes in the dry and 45 minutes in the wet, and I think maybe it will be one of the most uncertain races ever! We’re lucky because we had a good session in the dry yesterday and so we’re on pole, which is very important for the race here but it’s still impossible to be at 100% after such a short time and with so little data.
In the wet this morning our setting worked well also so I think we can fight whether it’s dry or wet, and after all it’s the same for everybody.
Of course I would prefer it to be dry but above all I hope it’s not half and half, I hope it’s either fully wet or fully dry otherwise it will be even more difficult.
”
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