Suzuki determined to improve in race

John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen have been the only riders to get close to the dominant Casey Stoner in recent rounds, but they could only manage 10th and 12th on the grid at Estoril.

"Having two bikes on the fourth row is not the result we were looking for today, but I don't believe it tells the true story of either the bike's or the riders' potential," said team manager Paul Denning.

He is certain that both will make progress as soon as the race starts.

"Both the guys have shown all season that they have got superb fitness and a very aggressive race strategy so I am sure you will see both of them forcing their way towards the front group as quickly as possible," Denning said.

"We basically didn't take the step forward this afternoon that our competitors did on qualifying tyres, but 28 laps will be a long way around the Estoril track tomorrow and we are optimistic that Rizla Suzuki's qualifying positions will be drastically improved on in the race tomorrow."

Hopkins said his only real problem was that he used up the grip in his qualifying tyres too soon.

"As far as qualifying this afternoon it just didn't happen today," he said.

"On my last tyre I just ran a bit too hard on my out lap and messed up the edge grip, but that's just the way it goes."

He also believes he can gain time by adjusting his riding style in the final part of the lap.

"I still need to improve through section four on the track," said Hopkins.

"It's nothing to do with the set-up of the bike it is totally down to me to make some line changes and get an extra three or four tenths through there. I'll be thinking about that overnight and try and figure out what's going on and how to improve it.

"If tomorrow is a dry race we are really confident that we have a good tyre for the 28 laps so it will be down to me getting a good start and making my way up to the front group."

But Vermeulen believes he needs some adjustments to the Suzuki in order to gain ground in the race.

"We are having a few handling issues this weekend and we're suffering from a bit of chatter," he said.

"There were some parts of the track where I didn't know if the bike would vibrate or just hold its line and it made things a bit difficult.

"We haven't had anything like this all year, but (chief technician) Tom (O'Kane) and the guys know what they are doing and I'm sure with all today's data we will be able to fix it before tomorrow."