Michel Fabrizio was left cursing his luck after traffic cost him the chance of advancing from Superpole 1 at Assen.
The Italian had been as high as fourth in the first qualifying session on Friday and was confident of a strong display in Qualifying.
But the Alstare Suzuki rider encountered fellow countryman Ayrton Badovini on his final flying lap and missed the cut by 0.010 seconds, leaving him a disgruntled thirteenth.
“It was a great shame what happened at the end of the first Superpole because it ruined what would’ve probably been a place on the front two rows of the grid” he added. “I was on a hot lap – towards the end of Superpole 1 – and was thinking that Superpole 2 would be no problem, but then I saw Badovini right on the racing line and had to change my direction: That small change was enough to lose the chance of getting into Superpole 2 and I was angry because he wasn’t even on a fast lap. Racing is like that sometimes, but now it means I have a mountain to climb in the races tomorrow.”
The 26 year old felt it was an opportunity lost for the team, who have yet to qualify on the front row this season, and accepts that he will have to make up ground immediately if he is challenge for a podium tomorrow.
“It’s a pity because I am pretty happy with my race set-up and know I can do consistently good times – but the problem is going to be my grid position. Starting from the fourth row of the grid is never easy because everybody is so competitive and it’s going to be difficult to run with the leaders if I do not get good starts. So, my aim is to get the best starts I can and see how far up the field I can get in the first lap. It’s going to be another tough day, but I am determined to fight hard and will do the very best I can.”
Race one at the Assen circuit gets underway at 11:00 BST on Sunday with championship leader Carlos Checa starting from pole position on the Althea Racing Ducati.
