Ben Spies - Photo Credit: Yamaha
Yamaha riders Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo were reasonably happy with their grid positions after qualifying second and fourth respectively at Silverstone. The session was brought to an early end by rain which prevented anyone from challenging polesitter Alvaro Bautista and Spies was satisfied with second, despite missing the chance to go one better.
“It was difficult conditions today again, like yesterday but it was the same for everybody. We tried our hardest, I'm happy for the team as they gave me a great bike and we set our best time with the hard rear tyre. When I put the soft one on we were a couple of tenths up then I made a mistake and hit the curb, I had a good lap going but messed it up. I'm just happy to be on the front row and working well with the team, let's see what tomorrow brings.”
Lorenzo will start behind championship rival Casey Stoner but admitted it could've been worse given the conditions and knows there is still plenty to play for in the race.
“That was a so-so session. I had hoped to be on the front row but it wasn't possible because it started raining so I didn't have a good fast lap to get up there. I stayed on the track for a while in case it stopped raining but it didn't happen. Fourth position is not so bad and we have some options to try for tomorrow. It's going to be a complicated race because it could rain and there will be a lot of wind. Let's stay calm and see what happens.”
Team Director Massimo Meregalli is confident in the race pace of the YZR-M1 and looks forward to seeing his riders challenging for victory tomorrow.
“The front row is very important. I think it could have been possible to get pole but unfortunately Ben ran off so we lost the opportunity. It's also a pity that it started to rain in the last five minutes which compromised the front row for Jorge. The pace of our bikes is very good and everything is working pretty well, including the weather forecast for tomorrow. We'll wait and see how it is but we're optimistic and looking forward to the race.”
