Suzuki praise brave Hopkins

Hopkins sat out the final week of pre-season running following an enormous accident in Qatar testing in February that left him with severe bruising, a broken toe, and hand injuries.

"Considering John started the weekend not knowing if he would be able to race at all, a second row start is a fantastic result and a good reward for his bravery and commitment," said Denning.

"He hasn't put a race distance together so far this week, but I'm sure come race day the adrenaline will see him through to the end."

Until other riders made last minute improvements, Hopkins looked set for a front row position.

"From where we started the weekend I've got to say that I am pretty happy to be starting from the second row," he said.

"Considering the pain I've been in this weekend I'm pleased with where we are and I'm sure that the adrenaline will kick in come race time."

Both Suzuki riders felt that they had chosen too hard a tyre compound for qualifying, although Hopkins was very positive about his race chances.

"We have a good race tyre that should go the distance and has lots of grip, so cheers to Bridgestone for that and for making the improvements that were needed," he said.

"As far as qualifying goes I think we chose a bit too hard a compound on Wednesday - but I guess that is all part of the new rule. We had a bit of movement and it wasn't stuck to the track like the Bridgestone qualifiers usually are."

Teammate Chris Vermeulen blamed the weather conditions for his 13th place on the grid.

"This afternoon the wind changed direction and it made it a bit more difficult out there," he said.

"For the tests and up until this afternoon it had been a strong headwind down the straight, but then it turned around and was not as strong so it was all a bit different than what we were used to.

"I got up to speed on the race tyre and felt quite comfortable. I moved into the top 10 and think I will be able to find a bit more speed tomorrow. The qualifiers just didn't give me the right grip and I wasn't able to go much faster than I had been already."