1st Julián Simón 1.49.337 (17 laps):
“I’m really pleased to have closed down the gap from yesterday. To be honest I’m surprised to be on pole because there were a lot of riders who were capable of it today. I was able to get a really good tow from Rabat down the straight and thanks to that I made up some crucial time on Cortese. The team did a fantastic job and worked against the clock to get the bike ready so this pole is 50% theirs. I can open the gas wherever I want and that is what made the difference today. It is going to be a difficult race tomorrow but it should be fun to watch, with a lot of riders up front – especially over the opening laps. My main objective will be to fight for the win like usual – I’d love to do it here – and otherwise score points to maintain the excellent advantage at the top of the championship.”
5th Bradley Smith 1.49.585 (20 laps):
“Even though I’m a little disappointed to have qualified fifth this has still been a fantastic day for us. The most positive thing has been my pace and consistency with the Aprilia so tomorrow the goal is to maintain that and run with the front group. We don’t have much to change on the bike but we will need to keep an eye on the wind because my feeling with the front end this afternoon wasn’t as good as it was this morning. It is not a big problem at the end of the straight but out the back it is blowing quite hard. If we can speed things up in T4 during the warm-up we can have a good race.”
7th Sergio Gadea 1.49.661 (16 laps):
“To be honest this is proving to be another tough weekend, like the Czech Republic, although this time our problems are with the rear end. The front end is good – I can brake late and my corner speed is good – but I have had a few scares on the slippery asphalt here. Despite that my pace is pretty good and with a couple of changes to the setting in the warm-up tomorrow we can be fighting art the front.”
