"I followed Jorge [Lorenzo, who starts beside Toseland in the race] for half a dozen laps this afternoon and he wasn't pulling away, so that gave my confidence a lift for tomorrow," Toseland said. "If the setup clicks I'll go for a top six finish."
Saturday pm - Okada was Right About the Pneumatic's Speed
It's impossible to draw precise comparisons, because Tady Okada is only a wild card rider, but from his performance in qualifying today it looks as though he was right when he said that Honda's new pneumatic-valve engine is 5-8kph faster on top speed than the valve-spring models.
Okada was 15th fastest in qualifying – but eighth fastest through the speed trap at 325.2kph (201.949mph). Predictably, a Ducati rider was fastest along the straight –
Marco Melandri at 330.1kph (204.992mph). But Okaka was the second fastest of the seven Hondas on the track.
Okada lapped 1.532 seconds slower than Pedrosa, so it's interesting to conjecture what the little Spaniard's top speed might have been on the pneumatic job.
Is there finally a bike that's about to rip the King of Speed Trap title from Ducati?
Saturday am - What a Surprise! 'It Was an Electrical Problem...'
So that's all right then. Just a little leccy fault stopped Tady Okada and the pneumatic-valve RC212V after only two full laps in this morning's practice session.
But if it were that simple, why didn't the bike reappear during the 54 minutes that remained? The problem was deep inside the engine and they couldn't get it sorted in time, is the official Honda line.
So the test goes on. Okada will run the prototype again in this afternoon's qualifying session. And probably only HRC's inner people will ever know whether it really was just wobby electrics or something more serious.
Saturday am - Pneumatic Honda Expires After Two Laps
Honda HRC's plans to evaluate their new pneumatic-valve engine under the full pressure and glare of a grand prix came to an embarrassing halt this morning when it expired beneath test rider Tady Okada on only his third lap.
Bike and rider were trucked back to the pits and never reappeared during the one-hour session.
Meanwhile
Dani Pedrosa was fastest in the session with a lap in 1m 49.975s on the existing valve-spring bike, so he may not be in a rush to switch to the new technology for his home race at the Catalunya round at Barcelona next weekend.
