Suzuki unruffled by Hopkins error

Hopkins had been Casey Stoner's closest rival for much of practice, and matched the championship leader's time in the first sector of the lap on his final qualifying run.

But he then suffered a low-side at Turn 7 and slid into the gravel, leaving him fourth on the grid.

Denning played the incident down, and believes Hopkins can challenge Stoner for victory tomorrow.

"John was going for pole right at the end when he fell down, and if you are going to crash that is as good a time as any," Denning said.

"He's 100 percent OK and he, like the rest of the team, is ready for tomorrow.

"John has shown himself to be one of the quickest and most consistent riders out there today. John looks capable of challenging right at the front tomorrow."

Hopkins also shrugged off the crash.

"The day didn't really end the way we wanted it to, but to be frank, Brno is just one of those tracks where you've got to go for it, and I pushed just a bit too hard," Hopkins said.

"I guess I've made a bit of extra work for the mechanics, so they probably won't be too pleased - sorry guys."

He shared his team manager's confidence about their race prospects.

"I feel really happy with the way things are going and the race times are looking good and we can do them consistently," he said.

"We are still looking for a tenth here and there, but I think we are more than ready for the race tomorrow.

"We'll try to get away from the line well and keep with Casey because I'm sure he'll have a blistering pace, so we'll just try to stick with him and get by him at the end."

Chris Vermeulen qualified eighth, 0.132 seconds behind Hopkins, and is also optimistic for tomorrow.

"We've progressed every session this weekend and without a doubt the qualifying session was my best by far," Vermeulen said.

"We made a lot of steps forward with race set-up and tyres, and although my qualifying position is not as good as I wanted, it still gives me a chance to get away with the front group."