Tech 3 pair frustrated by qualifying

The Briton cited a lack of grip from the hard Bridgestone rubber that he was using on the front of his Tech 3 Yamaha as the prime reason for his failure to match the front-row spot he managed last year.

"Once I put a new hard front and soft rear tyre on, I just couldn't get enough heat into the front," said Toseland.

"And when I put in my second soft rear the front wasn't so stable mid-corner. Under the rules now, you can't just throw another tyre in, so I'm really frustrated because the rear was working pretty good.

"I'm a bit disappointed because the bike was feeling good and I'm sure I could have got around the top six, but there was nothing I could do with the small issue with the front."

Toseland's American team-mate Colin Edwards fared much better, qualifying 1.3 seconds faster in sixth place on the grid. He was still far from satisfied with his effort though.

"I'm reasonably happy, but I know I had a real shot at being on the front row," said Edwards.

"I've been having a lot of issues with the front end moving around a lot during testing, so I came here with a totally new set-up to try and cure that.

"It's better than it was, but I'm still having issues that Valentino [Rossi] and Jorge [Lorenzo] are not. I know I can go faster, but I'm having to anticipate the movement, and that's not helping the time."