Valentino Rossi earned his best qualifying spot of the 2011 MotoGP season today at BRNO. Rossi will be starting on the second row for the first time with Ducati in the 6th place position.
"We took a step forward today by changing the front setting again and also modifying the riding position on the bike," Rossi said. " It's been a good weekend so far, although of course nothing earth-shattering, as I'm only sixth. Anyway, it's my best qualifying position of the season with the Ducati, which I'm also able to ride better this way, especially under braking and on corner entry."
Rossi finished with a 1'57.367 time today to claim the sixth position.
"During tomorrow's warm-up, we'll try to further improve the rear grip in the first two sectors, where I'm losing the most time," Rossi said. "In the second half of the track, I'm only losing about a tenth. We're pleased because we've learned a few things and, after an initial period of adaptation, we're able to work on the GP11.1 in a more productive way."
Nicky Hayden will be starting from the back of the third row during tomorrow's race. Hayden was pleased with the Ducati's performance in the wet, but they couldn't find the times they were looking for during the dry qualifying session.
"In the end, we salvaged ninth, but it wasn't easy getting there," Hayden said. "All weekend, it's just been really hard in the dry, because the bike was spinning and wouldn't hold the line.
"This morning in the wet was great right from the exit. With our standard rain setup, I was never outside the top five, from the start to the finish, but this afternoon in the dry was hard work. We came back in a lot and changed things, but without finding a right direction.
"Finally, with about 20 minutes to go, we hit on something with the ride height where I was able to keep the line and could begin to push, and in the end, I was able to get into the 57s. To get on the third row is obviously nothing spectacular, but it's much better than how things were looking. Hopefully, following that direction tomorrow will keep helping us."
