Colin Edwards handed the Tech 3 Yamaha team its sixth front row start of 2008 after another impressive qualifying performance at the Sachsenring today.

Wary that rain might disrupt the session after a weather-hit final practice session this morning, Edwards used one of his Michelin qualifying tyres early and he jumped to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1.21.794. More than half the session still remained at that stage, but Edwards was always in contention for his fourth front row start of the season. And in the closing seconds, a best lap of 1.21.519 on his final Michelin qualifying tyre saw him claim third on the grid, just 0.099s behind. MotoGP world championship leader Dani Pedrosa and dominant Casey Stoner. Edwards is confident that his race pace will be good enough to challenge for a third podium of the season in tomorrow's 30- lap race.

A late set-up change with his YZR-M1 machine reaped immediate rewards for British team-mate James Toseland. The 27- year-old was able to knock a full second off his previous best time with the alteration, which helped with rear traction. Toseland moved up as high as ninth on the third row before he slipped down to 11th in the closing stages. He was only 0.5s away from the front row with another determined display.

We tried something different this morning and I don't know if I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or what we tried was bizarre, even though it wasn't far from what we had yesterday, but it just didn't work. I threw a qualifier in early just to make sure I'd got a time in with the skies looking a bit threatening. You'd hate to be on the pace and not try an early qualifier and be back in ninth or something on the grid.

Being on the front row is great for my team because it is so important here with it being so hard to pass on this track. I've never gone well at this track, so if somebody had told me on Thursday I'd be on the front row and ready to fight for the podium, I'm not sure what I would have said. But it's a testament to how good everything is working well together. The bike, the tyres and the team just make a great package.

I'd still like a bit more feeling on the front and it kind of feels a bit vague but I think a lot of that's down to the temperature. We have to run a harder front for endurance and it works okay, but it would work great in hotter conditions because the surface was only about 26 degrees out there today. But the Michelin qualifiers are awesome because you can just go and push on them. It might rain tomorrow and we have been trying to sort out a wet setting with the geometry of this year's bike and we have struggled a bit.

We have a wet setting that I used to finish second at Donington last year and I used it at Donington in qualifying last month. Just about every time it rains I pull this setting out and use it. So tomorrow I'm not going to mess around and try and make something new work. I'll just get 20 minutes of good time on that setting if its wet in the warm-up. I expect to be up there challenging at the front tomorrow because the total package is working awesome."

"I made a change for the last qualifier and it was night and day difference. I found it difficult on the first three tyres and couldn't break the 1.23 barrier. With that weight transfer problem pitching weight to the front, I wasn't getting the best out of the extra grip from the qualifier because I didn't have much feel from the rear going into the corners. I've got to say a big thanks to my guys because at the end we made a slight change to the rear of the bike and I did a 22.1.

Before that I'd hit a bit of a wall. The change helped massively with the weight transfer and to go a second quicker from one qualifier to the next is a massive improvement. I'm only 11th but another half-a-second and I would have been on the front row, so I'm reasonably happy. I need to get a decent start and hold my position in the top ten because it is a long race and it could rain. Like I said yesterday, this is a tough track.

The throttle control knowledge you need for this track is unbelievable. You have got to be so precise and it is almost like you have to learn which position of the throttle you need to be in rather than where you need to be on the track.

Too little throttle and you're going too slowly in the corner and too much and you run wide or it unsettles the balance of the bike. In terms of throttle control I've never known a track where you need to be so accurate for lines and apexes and it is so hard because you spend so much time at full lean angle."

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo secured his best grid spot since the French Grand Prix back in May today, qualifying fifth for tomorrow's German Grand Prix. The Spanish youngster put in a promising showing on his Michelin qualifying tyres and set his best time on his 25th of 29 laps.

After hot sunshine yesterday, heavy rain early on left the track wet for the morning's practice session, which meant that Lorenzo and his team were unable to try some of their planned modifications. This afternoon's qualifying session was dry but the 21-year-old was unable to make much headway on race tyres and is still lacking the pace that came so easily to him earlier in the year. His good performance on qualifying tyres therefore was a welcome confidence boost and he will be looking to make the most of it in tomorrow's 30-lap race.

"We've worked very hard this weekend and I am happy to be on the second row, it's an improvement and with the Michelin qualifying tyres I was able to go quite fast. However with the race tyre we still have problems and it's very frustrating; we don't have enough grip with the rear and this means I don't have enough confidence in the bike and I can't ride fast.

More than ever today, I am finding it very hard to understand how I was so fast earlier on in the season and now I am so slow! All we can do is keep working and not stop, in order to try to find the confidence we are lacking. I hope tomorrow that I can make the most of starting on the second row, try to stay with the leading riders and hopefully enjoy my race. I'm sorry really that Valentino was behind me on one of his fast laps, I was slowing down to go into the pits and I wasn't aware that he was there. In fact I didn't know anything about it until afterwards but I am very sorry that it happened, especially when he was doing such a good lap."

"Today has been another difficult qualifying session and Jorge still doesn't have enough confidence to ride with as fast a pace as the front riders. Our biggest problem is the lack of rear grip and the fact that the rear tyre is spinning too much, especially under acceleration. The team is working very hard to improve our package but the weather didn't help us much this morning and we didn't have time to try all the solutions we had planned. Therefore we will have to use the warm-up to continue our work! With the Michelin qualifying tyres Jorge was able to make a good second row so for the race we hope he can get a good start and then try to stay with the leading riders."

Valentino Rossi made significant strides with the set-up of his Fiat Yamaha M1 at the Sachsenring this afternoon, finding an improved race pace around the twisty German track. The Italian will need all the help he can get tomorrow however as he was only able to qualify seventh for the race, at the head of the third row.

After a problematical afternoon yesterday, the team's difficulties were compounded this morning when heavy rain left the track wet and rendered the majority of the first session useless. Luckily the afternoon was dry, if significantly cooler than yesterday, and Rossi and his team were able to find a good balance between their bike and their Bridgestone race tyres to set a string of consistent laps.

He was disappointed after this not to qualify better and starting from the third row will complicate issues for him tomorrow as this track is notoriously tricky to pass at, although he defied this in 2006 when winning from 11th.

Rossi will set a new record for consecutive Grand Prix starts with his 202nd successive appearance since his first race in 1996.

"Today things didn't go how we hoped with the qualifying tyres! We had four as usual and, with the best one, unfortunately I found Jorge on the last corner. He was slowing down to enter the pits and he didn't see me, this was just unlucky because I think that lap could have been good enough for the second row.

Then with my last tyre my lap looked like it would be good enough for the front row but I had some problems with grip on the last two corners and I lost about half a second, so finally we are on the third row! I know I have passed many riders before here but everyone is so close now that I know it will be very hard and so it's going to be very important that I get a good start.

Luckily after the problems of yesterday and this morning we have found a good setting and a good Bridgestone tyre, and this afternoon we were as fast as Pedrosa so I think if I can manage not to lose too many places in the first few laps, then I can fight for the podium. This is my target for tomorrow."

"This afternoon we improved a lot and this qualifying position is disappointing because we had a much better potential and the latest modifications that the team and engineers made worked very well. It seems that we have the pace to race and therefore it's just a pity that we are on the third row; we just couldn't put everything together on the same lap today.

We will continue in the morning to make some final adjustments and then hopefully Valentino can get a good start and try to fight his way forward and stay with the leaders."

1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'21.067

2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'21.420

3 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'21.519

4 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'21.656

5 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1'21.795

6 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1'21.821

7 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'21.845

8 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'21.876

9 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 1'21.920

10 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 1'21.977

11 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'22.126

12 Toni Elias Ducati ESP 1'22.256

13 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'22.542

14 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'22.601

15 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 1'22.938  

-Yamaha Racing -