Nakano laments qualifying crash
Shinya Nakano was disappointed after a high-speed crash cost him the chance of a better result in qualifying for the first race in Qatar
The Konica Minolta Honda rider fell at the fourth-gear turn 13 with 20 minutes of the session remaining, and although he was uninjured, he was forced to switch to the second bike, losing one of his two sets of qualifying tyres.
Nakano finished down in 11th position, but he believes he was capable of more.
"Despite the crash I feel okay and I'm not hurt," said Nakano. "It was a fast crash on one of the right-hand corners, so I was lucky. Compared to my crash down the Mugello straight a few years ago, it was a slow one.
"I was trying to improve my laptime and was adjusting my riding style a little but perhaps it was the wrong thing to do as I lost the front. I'm obviously a little disappointed, as I wanted something better from today for the team and myself.
"After the crash I could improve my laptime with a qualifying tyre, but now we have to look forward to tomorrow and use morning warm-up to choose a tyre for the race."
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