Front row start for Valentino Rossi's 200th race

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will start his 200th Grand Prix from the front row of the grid tomorrow, after a consistent performance in the wet this afternoon put him second for tomorrow's British round at Donington Park. The Italian will be bidding for his eighth career win at this track but tomorrow promises to be no easy challenge, with today's wet weather expected to give way to high winds.

After a dry day yesterday today was wet throughout, a steady British drizzle soaking the track and making the already-slippery surface even more difficult to deal with, a situation that gave rise to several crashes in this morning's free practice. Rossi stayed upright but struggled with set-up issues and remained two seconds off the pace in ninth position.

Some hard work from his engineers and mechanics proved fruitful this afternoon however and he was immediately more comfortable in this afternoon's qualifying session, lapping consistently in the top five. Half way through the session the rain ceased and the track began to dry further and, although a dry racing line never appeared, Rossi was able to put a string of fast laps together in the last twenty minutes and his best time was good enough for second, behind Casey Stoner and just ahead of Chris Vermeulen.

"I'm so happy with this qualifying result and it's very important for us that we're on the front row tomorrow. We know that our Bridgestone tyres are very fast in the wet but this morning we had some problems with the setting and honestly I was quite concerned! Anyway, we made some important changes to the set-up for the afternoon and straight away the balance was better and I was able to open the throttle when I wanted to, in fact I had a lot of fun!

With more small modifications throughout qualifying things got even better and lap-by-lap we were able to get faster, especially at the end. Now we are waiting for the weather in order to decide the tyres. If it's dry we have quite a big question mark about some things but we have some good ideas and I am not too worried. It's my 200th race and it's very exciting for me to reach another landmark in my career but for now I think about it as just another race."

"This was a very good session for us and the team and engineers have done an excellent job after this morning, when we had some problems. They had some good ideas and we have made a strong recovery to come back and qualify on the front row. Valentino was riding very well in the wet and it's very important for him to be on the front row here. Tomorrow could be difficult because it looks like the warm-up will be dry but we're not so sure for the race, it may be very windy but we will just have to deal with whatever comes!"

Jorge Lorenzo's return from injury continued in unforgiving conditions today, with the 21-year-old having to cope with a rain-hit Donington Park as he tried to find his confidence and feeling after his recent run of bad luck. The Michelin-shod Fiat Yamaha rookie was unable to make much headway today and could only manage 17th on the grid, the first time he has qualified off the first two rows since he joined Yamaha.

In the first, very wet session this morning things seemed to be looking up with Lorenzo seeming to find a rhythm and finishing a creditable ninth. The rain eased up throughout the middle part of the day however and, although he improved his time by over three seconds, others improved more and his grid position suffered as a result. With tomorrow's forecast promising drier weather but high winds, Lorenzo's aim will be just to finish safely and try to gain some confidence back on the bike in the process, looking ahead to the next race in Assen just seven days away.

"This morning I was riding quite well but in the afternoon the track changed; it dried out a bit and it became more difficult for me. I improved by three seconds but it wasn't enough because the others improved by six or seven seconds! I've never started so far back in MotoGP and it's a very different experience for me. I would have liked to have done one more session in the dry conditions but it hasn't been possible, and now I must be very focused tomorrow.

For me it will be a success to finish the race, because for sure it's better to finish than to crash! We have to keep going step-by-step and then I know that we can improve in Assen. Yesterday we made a mistake because we wanted to change a lot of things on the bike but in fact the problem was me; this is a bad time for me but I can't let it get me down because I know this will pass and that sooner or later things will be better."

"This was a difficult qualifying session for us despite an encouraging morning, when things went quite well and we were able to find a good balance and lap time. This afternoon the track was drier and we lacked rear grip; it was very difficult for Jorge going into the fast corners and also under acceleration. These conditions are making a difficult weekend even harder for him, when he is already lacking confidence after coming back from injury, and he has to take even more care to avoid mistakes. Now we will have a long meeting and we must find some solutions to improve things for tomorrow, because for sure the sixth row is not the right place for us."

Mixed fortunes for Tech 3 Yamaha at damp Donington

A rain-hit second day at Donington Park, venue for tomorrow's 30-lap British GP, produced contrasting fortunes for Tech 3 Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland. In treacherous conditions, Edwards was one of the fastest men on track as the American qualified fifth on the grid. But it was a frustrating day for home star Toseland, who will start 16th after preparations for his British GP debut didn't go as smoothly as planned.

Edwards maintained his impressive 100 per cent top six qualifying record in 2008 with a best lap of 1.39.601. At one stage that time moved him as high as second in the decisive final minutes as he opted to run a set-up on his YZR-M1 similar to the one he used to finish second in a weather disrupted Donington clash last year. Despite being dropped off the front row, Edwards is confident he can be a serious contender tomorrow as he goes in search of a third podium in the British GP.

Having previously qualified in the top eight in his first seven races, Toseland will need one of his famous aggressive starts after a lap of 1.41.751 left him in unfamiliar territory on the sixth row. Sporting a new St George's Cross helmet design for his home race, Toseland seemed certain to claim another top six start when he crashed unhurt exiting the final corner in the closing stages. He remounted but crashed again at Schwantz Curve, having earlier tumbled out at Coppice in tricky conditions this morning. Despite a disappointing day, Toseland remains upbeat that he can mount a challenge in front of a large home crowd tomorrow. Ignoring the poor weather conditions today, the vast spectator areas at Donington were awash with Toseland fans roaring on the 27-yearold.

"My team did an awesome job today and I just keep getting more and more impressed with them. We all did about 10 days of work in two hours to get to where we were this afternoon because this morning it just wasn't right. It was a disaster to be honest and it felt like I was sitting on the rear tyre with no front contact. It felt like if something was going to move I was going over the high-side.

We played around with the bike and basically went to the set-up I had last year when I finished second and it worked, even though the chassis and engine is different on this bike. Once I got the right feeling I was dropping a second a lap this morning and we didn't really touch the bike much this afternoon. The front tyre I used this morning is the same front tyre I used all afternoon, so I did about 50 laps on a front tyre.

We have obviously got no problem with front tyre endurance in the rain and the rear I'm pretty happy with. To me the track is not that bad for grip. The track is very flat but it has probably more grip than most other places. As long as you have load and you can squash the tyre onto the track it probably has more grip than any track. But we worked a lot on the electronics and thanks to my guys again because we got a much better feeling and more grip. I'm confident I can run at the front if it is full wet.

Michelin has been doing a lot of work with the performance of the rain tyres on a drying track, so if it does get half and half I should be at the front. Rain or shine we are looking good and I want to get on the podium. This is my most successful track in MotoGP and I'm definitely looking to continue that good record."

"Basically I made a mess of it. It was difficult conditions and the potential was there for a top six. Everything was going in the right direction but unfortunately I tried a few things that didn't work. Although sixth place was okay I felt like I was on the edge of the setting. I tried to change some things but we never really went in a positive direction.

We were running out of time and put ourselves under pressure to get a lap in right at the end and I got on the throttle too early out of the last corner and high-sided myself. I got back on but it damaged the rear brake. I was going through Schwantz Curve and I think it engaged the rear brake and decided to chuck me off again. I think somebody was telling me they didn't want me to do the lap. I'd like to say thanks to the marshals because where I crashed at the last corner was in a bit of dodgy place and they risked a lot to try and get me going.

They were true heroes. I've got to look at the positives and if it all went well we'd have been in the top six. The problem is in this class if you don't get it right you are 16th and I'm devastated that these conditions came in June in England. I was eighth yesterday but comfortable in the dry and another dry day I know I could have done a lot better. I had a lack of contact with the rear on the entry again and we really need to find this balance, especially at this track where there is so little grip.

Unfortunately with only one hour you don't have the time to take a risk. Both my knees are a bit sore. In the crash this morning a handlebar hit me in the right knee and the second one this afternoon was in a fast place and it bashed me up a bit. It is going to be tough but my fans can be rest assured that I will still be giving it everything tomorrow."

1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'38.232

2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'38.881

3 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'39.018

4 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'39.270

5 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'39.601

6 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'39.783

7 Anthony West Kawasaki AUS 1'39.995

8 Ben Spies Suzuki USA 1'40.244

9 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'40.350

10 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 1'40.417

11 John Hopkins Kawasaki USA 1'40.539

12 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 1'40.595

13 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 1'40.667

14 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1'41.110

15 Marco Melandri Ducati ITA 1'41.379

16 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'41.751

17 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1'41.873

-Yamaha Racing