Michelin concerned about race

The French tyre manufacturer brought a harder specification of rubber after the troubles it had last year with an aggressive track surface and very hot conditions.

However, the cooler ambient temperatures and the track surface being different have left Michelin's teams with tyres that are far from ideal.

At one point, as our exclusive photograph shows, their riders even ventured onto the track with intermediates - which are much softer than the available slicks.

Although set-up and tyre pressure variations meant the tyres were suitable for one-off quick qualifying laps, there are concerns about how they will fare over the course of the race.

Michelin's director of motorcycle racing Jean-Philippe Weber said: "The qualifying session was very important because we had to continue the work we had already done with our race tyres.

"The conditions here are very different to those at last year's US GP when we struggled with high temperatures and a new and aggressive surface. This year the surface is much less aggressive and the conditions aren't so hot.

"We brought some hard constructions and hard compounds to prevent a repeat of the problems we had last year, so our riders have had to work on the settings of their bikes to get good warm-up from the tyres and to use the tyres' maximum potential.

"Casey Stoner is once again very fast, but we are happy that five of our riders are in the top seven positions on the grid. Tomorrow's race is very long - 32 laps - and it seems that it may be cloudy, which will mean a different track temperature, so during morning warm-up some further adjustments may be necessary. It will be tough but we hope for a nice race."

There is a chance Michelin's riders will again use the intermediate tyres in the warm-up to evaluate their potential.