Suzuki pair confident for strong race

The Italian and the Australian, who qualified in tenth and 12th position respectively, reckon that their race set-up will allow them to have a strong run, provided they can get a good start.

"I think that if we look at our grid position it is not too good, but we are quite happy with the performance on race tyres," said Capirossi.

"We are one of the best - if not the best - on Bridgestone race tyres on the track today and for sure tomorrow it will be harder to start on the fourth row but we are quite optimistic.

"The reason for this is because we have a good feeling here with the bike and we will certainly be trying as hard as we can to get a good result tomorrow," concluded Capirossi.

"We had a good session on race tyres and we found something in the bike and with the Bridgestone tyres," added Vermeulen. "We seem to have a good pace and we improved quite a bit during the session and I think there is more to come.

"With the qualifiers we made good time today, but it was nowhere near the front guys. It shows that we still have some work to do with the qualifying tyres - as we have had in the last few races.

"I am really happy with my race set-up, but unfortunately I'm on the fourth row of the grid so I will need a good start. I think I'd better get my elbows sharpened to make my way through."