Burgess rues qualifying miscues

When the rain hit in the middle of the session, it looked like Rossi would be consigned to eighth on the grid, as he did not manage a lap at the moment when conditions were at their best immediately before the shower.

"We did a couple more laps than perhaps we should have on the first tyre, then we came in and we went on another one," Burgess told autosport.com.

"We realised it was drying too quickly, so we did two laps then brought him in, and it basically dumped. So that window when you've got two laps on something that should have been much stronger, was the time when the other guys did their laps."

Rossi later improved to third as the track dried, but wore out his wet weather tyres too soon and did not make further gains on his next two flying laps, despite conditions continuing to improve.

"We still went two laps too early I think," Burgess said. "He got to 2:01.7 easily, then it dried a bit and the tyres just started to spin. So either one rank harder (on the tyre compound) would have been ideal, or going two or three laps later."

The Italian was one of only two Michelin riders in the top ten, but Burgess does not believe the Bridgestones are necessarily superior in wet conditions.

"It's very hard to say. I think, other than in Le Mans, we haven't seen the Bridgestone over the distance," he said.

"I don't know what they had on here and whether they treated it like a qualification session or not.

"We had to pick the right tyre for the right condition, and there was no tyre that I've ever seen that you could have put on in the beginning and run right through.

"If you put the tyre on for the conditions, they're all pretty good. It's when you have the conditions changing that one company fares above the other."