Hector Barbera pipped Valentino Rossi for 4th spot on the grid by the smallest of margins.
Tyres present a major issue for Rossi as well, perhaps even more so than the new layout. With the medium option having a relatively short life on the M1, both Rossi and Lorenzoset to use the harder option. While it will last the distance, neither rider is yet able to extract the full potential from the tyre and Rossi feels his race pace will not be enough.
"In the end, the qualifying was not so bad. Unfortunately I wasn‰Ûªt able to make the perfect lap, I made a few mistakes and will start from the second row, from fifth position, that is OK," Rossi said.
"We need to work, we are quite worried for the race. With this new layout we suffer a lot and especially because we need to use the hard front, but unfortunately we are not able to use it in the right way, we are very slow and in terms of pace we are quite far from the top guys. I think that it will be hard, but we have time and have some hours to think and we hope we can change the situation for tomorrow. It‰Ûªs not a voluntary decision, with the medium option after seven or eight laps it‰Ûªs finished, so we need to use the hard tyre, but try to use it in a better way.‰Û
