Heading into the weekend eager to keep his fortunes on track,
Michel Fabrizio admits he was pleased to emerge from provisional qualification at Miller Motorsports Park in fifth place.
Having returned to the scoresheet in Monza, Fabrizio's maiden foray to the Utah circuit didn't get off to a great start when he could only manage the tenth fastest time, almost a second slower than Ducati Xerox team-mate
Troy Bayliss.
However, a good effort in the second half of qualifying saw Fabrizio run as high as third before eventually being bumped down to fifth again as the chequered flag flew.
Nonetheless, the Italian rider was pleased with his progress and is now looking to build on that in final qualifying and, hopefully, Superpole, starting with claiming back the tenths he is losing on a few bends.
"I must admit I'm very satisfied with my performance today. There are a couple of curves where I'm losing a couple of tenths and hope to get those right tomorrow to go even faster, but I can say it's a really nice track to ride.
“I feel really comfortable with the bike and everyone seems to be going fast already which makes it good and competitive. Today's weather conditions were advantageous too so we hope that that continues for tomorrow and Sunday too!"
