Toseland frustrated by illness

The Tech 3 rider finished sixth at Jerez despite his illness, only narrowly losing fifth to Suzuki's Loris Capirossi, having been on medication all weekend.

"I've had easier races," Toseland told BBC television. "I want to thank the Mobile Clinic for pumping everything into me.

"It's just so frustrating because the bike's been working so well in pre-season testing and here.

"I was hoping for fifth to be better than Qatar, but sixth to equal that is okay. The team changed the bike completely after the warm-up and it worked great in the race."

The Tech 3 Yamahas are still waiting for the new pneumatic valve engine used by the works team, and have struggled for straightline speed so far this year.

Toseland admitted that this hampered him during his battle with Capirossi, Andrea Dovizioso and John Hopkins.

"I couldn't make a pass at the end of the straight because I just couldn't get alongside them," he said. "But my front tyre was working so well, I was able to carry more corner speed through the long right-hander."

Colin Edwards qualified the second Tech 3 bike on the front row, but crashed after just six laps. He said he had been pushing too hard to overcome his lack of power.

"With the little disadvantage that we have with acceleration, we can do the lap times on our own, but not when we get with traffic," he told the BBC. "We have to push hard."