Trouble at Camel Honda.

The main losers during today's qualifying session at Le Mans were the Camel Honda team whose star rider Alex Barros, fastest on day one, was left down in eleventh position - despite proven race pace - while Troy Bayliss again struggled to feel confident on his RCV.

"The thing that we were most affected by in terms of tomorrow's race is being unable to make the most of the qualifying tyres. That's really disappointing for me because if you're aiming for victory you can't start that far back," said Alex.

Bayliss, French MotoGP, 2005
Bayliss, French MotoGP, 2005
© Gold and Goose

The main losers during today's qualifying session at Le Mans were the Camel Honda team whose star rider Alex Barros, fastest on day one, was left down in eleventh position - despite proven race pace - while Troy Bayliss again struggled to feel confident on his RCV.

"The thing that we were most affected by in terms of tomorrow's race is being unable to make the most of the qualifying tyres. That's really disappointing for me because if you're aiming for victory you can't start that far back," said Alex.

"From the fourth row I would need a great start and also a superb first lap, because you have to be there to try and make up ground on the front guys as they try to clear off. Anyway, we'll see what happens tomorrow what type of race it's going to be, dry or wet - the conditions can change very quickly here," he added.

"Alex is only missing that crucial fast lap this weekend, but his rhythm is up there with the best," confirmed team principal Sito Pons. "Certainly today's time is a handicap, but he's got the pace. Tomorrow in the warm-up we will make a few slight adjustments, but he has both the chance and the capability of fighting for the podium."

Meanwhile, a lack of dry track time and loss of confidence were the main hindrances for Bayliss, who was left just 15th on the grid.

"I honestly expected something better today," confessed Troy. "Not great things, but certainly a bigger step forward. Perhaps I lost a bit of confidence after the crash in Shanghai in the rain and after that highside in Estoril during practice.

"I don't really feel at ease in the saddle, and I need to get a good result to get a bit of confidence back. So we'll see what happens in the warm-up tomorrow, see if we can manage to improve a few things, and then we hope to have a good race," he added.

"Troy is perhaps in a little more difficulty (than Alex), we need to work hard and try and get him more comfortable behind the handlebars of the RCV," stated Pons. "It's obvious that we're not getting all the potential out of him that we should be, and we have to try and do everything we can to improve his confidence."

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