Stoner admits blame after qualifying fifth at Jerez - his worst performance since 2010

After ending almost one second down on works Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa in qualifying, Stoner blamed both himself and the inclement conditions which hampered set-up work throughout practice.

"Qualifying didn't go so well, conditions have been terrible all weekend, from half dry tracks to fully wet so we haven't really been able to get any form of set-up on the bike," he explained.

"It's a little bit disappointing, we had hoped to be on the front row but with conditions like this I wasn't really willing to push.

"There were a lot of people falling off and the wet patches that were there were incredibly slippery. With this said, there is still half a second that I am accountable for and can't blame the track, we're just a little bit off with our settings so we have some work to do tonight.

"We're not really sure what to expect until we see the weather tomorrow and this makes things pretty difficult".

Pedrosa too admitted that conditions had hurt set-up work, but in contrast to Stoner he was able to thrive and was a constant threat for pole.

The Spaniard added: "It was very difficult to know how much to push because there were some wet spots and it was easy to make mistakes.

"Also after so many laps with wet tyres in the free practices, when you put on the slicks it's like another bike but you have no time to waste to find a good laptime. So I'm quite impressed with the chrono and very happy to be on the front row.

"Tomorrow we have to be ready for a tough race in any conditions and I want to have a good race here in front of my fans".