“I don't think anybody has done a really long run here, so tyre choice and tyre conservation will be critical. I think the winner will be the rider who conserves his tyres best and is the most consistent in the race.”
“I guess my problem in Superpole is...Superpole,” rued Nieto, who had blitzed the field in opening practice but has since progressively fallen backwards as the meeting has progressed. “For some reason I never go as well in Superpole as I do in practice and qualifying. That has caused me problems in the past, and now I need to find a way around this problem and learn how to attack Superpole in the best way.
“The problem with a bad Superpole is that you end up way down the grid, and that means you have to push very hard in the early part of the race. That wears the tyres out quicker, which means they are in not such good condition at the end of the race.
“Today I tried a qualifier in practice, but I got so much chatter from it that I could not use it in Superpole. Instead I used a very soft race tyre [like many other riders] and tried to do my best. It's going to be a long hard day tomorrow, but I am determined to give everything I've got to get some good results.”
