“Today I tried to brake later and open the throttle early. I already felt good on the first run, but the first lap is always a bit difficult. I knew I had a good potential and on the second run I was in the right position, with clear track in front, and I rode well. I was able to push without making any mistakes. It’s a shame for the pole, because we were close, but the second place is a very good result and front row is a good place to start the race from tomorrow.”

“It was very difficult in qualifying, because we didn’t find a good set-up and I couldn’t make the bike turn the way I wanted it to. We still have time to deeply check the information we collected today and try to prepare a different set-up for tomorrow’s warm up. I think I can make some steps forward in the race. My race pace is not so bad, but anyway we have to improve.”

“Starting from first row is always a vital component to having a good race weekend. Valentino was feeling very comfortable on his bike in FP3 and FP4 and he again showed his pace in Q2. His first run was already competitive but, with clear track ahead of him, he really got up to speed on the second outing and came very close to the pole with a 1’55.073s lap. Maverick made some big changes to his bike, but there’s still some fine-tuning to be done. He had a strong race pace this morning, but there’s room for improvement in the second sector, as seen in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Though the weather conditions for the race remain a question mark, we will prepare something for tomorrow’s warm up to see if we can gain a few more tenths before we get into the race-mood.”

“Overall the qualifying was a bit tricky but I am ready for anything tomorrow. I was pleased with my lap time in FP3 and happy to be in the top ten which put me through to Q2. Then this afternoon, I felt positive on the bike, and the control was good, but I was missing some drive on the exit of the corner. I was able to follow some riders and the corner entry and speed was positive, yet, there was a bit too much spinning at the exit. Maybe it was too hot, but I wanted to be on the first two rows. However, 10th is not a disaster because the work that we did in FP4 was solid. Here, I was the only rider who stayed on the used tyres, and I could understand a lot of things and create a good feeling in case of a dry race tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what happens with the weather as I will be ready if it rains, because we had a test in the wet on Friday morning. If it is damp, then I know that I will have to get on the pace quickly to be fast in the race. Yet, if it’s dry, I think that, when compared to the guys in front, I can be more consistent after ten laps, even though I was not able to be really fast on a single lap this afternoon. We will have to fight anyway, but I am confident.”

“I am disappointed with today’s result because I was very close to getting into Qualifying 2. At the end of Q1, the last lap that I set was my fastest, but time ran out two seconds before I completed it and I thought I had another lap available because I didn’t see the chequered flag. I went even quicker, yet unfortunately, the session had already finished. This is a shame because our target was to have a strong qualifying today and we couldn’t achieve this, plus we can do much better. Now we have to wait until tomorrow, but we understand that we are quite strong, yet, I don’t feel completely comfortable on the bike, so we need to do a bit of work to find some solutions for the setting. I hope we can make a step, and I will give it everything that I have got.”