British GP, Donington: Post-Qualifying Team Quotes

 In News


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5th Mike Di Meglio 1.32.643 (22 laps):
“I am really happy to be starting from the front of the second row. Obviously I would have preferred to be on the front row but considering how the session went this is a good result. My pace is good and the Aprilia is working perfectly, so I’m in good shape for my 100th Grand Prix. I will try and stay focused on getting a good start in the race and following the leade group. Hopefully I can learn from the mistakes I’ve mad in other races, continue learning and pick up as many points as possible. My objective was to qualify as high up the grid as possible and I think we’ve done that – we just have to cap it off tomorrow with a good performance. I have done a lot of laps on used tyres here and my feeling could not be better.”

6th Álvaro Bautista 1.32.664 (23 laps):
“I feel a little better now than I did this morning. I was struggling in free practice after the crash because the elbow was swollen and sore but it has gone down now and I feel better. I was still struggling to turn the bike under heavy braking but I hope to be better tomorrow. It looks like it could be a wet race which isn’t nice for anybody, especially with the low grip levels here, but even so we will try and leave Donington with as many points as possible. The objective is to get a good start and stick with the front group, which will be important from the second row. I could have gone a little faster towards the end of the session but I ran into traffic.”

22nd Balázs Németh 1.36.202 (20 laps):
“I took some painkillers this morning and they seemed to do the job. I felt much better on the bike although I am still struggling in the direction changes, especially the left-handers, where I don’t have as much confidence as I would like. In any case today was much better than yesterday and I am happy with the result. We have improved our lap times and as long as the hand doesn’t play up I should have a good race. I felt comfortable on the bike at the start of qualifying but it got harder to stay in control of my Aprilia as time went on. Hopefully I can give it my best shot tomorrow and maybe even challenge for points.”

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1st Bradley Smith 1.37.442 (21 laps):
“That was a fantastic qualifying session for me – I felt like I had it under control all the way through and the bike was working perfectly. My confidence picked up as the laps went by and I was able to go faster and faster. I don’t think we could ask for much more at the moment – just for the weekend to end successfully tomorrow! Whatever happens I have to stay focused because the points don’t get dished out until tomorrow and that is when you’ve got to really produce the goods. The bike is more or less ready and we don’t need to change anything before the race. Hopefully the weather is on our side and we have a dry race. It is important for us to get a good result tomorrow to keep our championship chances intact.”

3rd Julián Simón 1.37.749 (14 laps):
“The conditions weren’t ideal yesterday but I felt comfortable on my Aprilia this morning and my pace was pretty good. I was really hoping to fight for pole this afternoon and went out strong from the start. I was getting a lot of rebound from the front end and I crashed on my second lap but thanks to the work of the team I was able to get back on track quickly. I tried to take things more calmly from then because I didn’t want to crash again and the track was a little dirty. I wasn’t taking any risks and considering I crashed I am happy to have qualified third. We’re not as clear about tomorrow as we were in Germany but we have a few things in mind that we think can help us set a good pace. There are a lot of riders capable of running up front so it will be important to start well.”

4th Sergio Gadea 1.37.849 (17 laps):
“I’m really happy with the result because we had a gearbox problem at the start but once again the mechanics did a great job and we went into the final ten minutes of the session with a chance of fighting for pole. I pushed hard for a good time on the last couple of laps but ran into traffic and couldn’t go any faster than a 37.8. The set-up should be good for the race and we’re ready for rain or shine.”

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