Elias happy but cautious about race

The Alice Ducati rider's hitherto dismal year turned around when he came from 13th on the grid to finish second in the Czech Republic a fortnight ago, and he maintained his momentum in qualifying in Italy.

Elias, whose previous best start this year had been 10th at Laguna Seca, said he was particularly relieved to be within a second of Casey Stoner, who is the only man to have got competitive times out of the Ducati for most of 2008.

"Stoner is always very quick, it's difficult to be close to him," Elias told Italia1 television. "But in the end we've found our way a bit. We're improving, I'm happy: this is the first time I'm on the second row, and this is important.

"We've had a good rhythm. It's not bad for tomorrow but we'll see: everyone goes very quick."

The qualifying result came as a pleasant surprise to Elias after he had strggled in Friday practice.

"I wasn't happy at all yesterday," he admitted. "I wasn't very confident, but we've found our way and we've improved a lot today."

However while Elias was quietly confident about his race prospects, he was cautious about his chances of repeating his sensational Brno performance.

"Our tyres work well and our set-up is good," he said. "We are on the second row, so it's a better situation than in the Czech Republic on Saturday.

"But the race is very long and you need to start well and to be very consistent. That will be very important."