Britain's James Toseland had to make some impromptu repairs to his Tech3 Yamaha in the second free practice at Brno MotoGP this afternoon when a small crash in the kitty litter saw his chain come off the rear sprocket.
The ever-rescourceful Toseland made his own repairs, rather than going back to the garage for his second bike, and managed to set his fastest time of the session. However, they were only good enough for 13th place as he struggles with front-end grip from the Michelin tyres.
“It looks a little bit worse than it actually is because we have moved in a good direction with the set-up," said the Yorkshireman. "And the new engine is fantastic, so a massive thanks to Yamaha for giving the team and me this level of support.
"It just feels stronger and you seem to be getting through the gearbox a lot more progressively. And it keeps on pulling once you get into fifth and sixth gear. You see the red gear change light flash up a bit quicker than usual and up the hill you can certainly feel the bike is still pulling and it is a big improvement. We have just got a lot of hard work to do with Michelin.
"Now the track is cleaning up a little we are getting more life out of the tyre and the grip level is not so bad. But we can still make it better and I am staying positive and trying to work as hard as I can with Michelin. When I ran off I just braked a bit too late down the hill. I thought I was going to be able to stay on it but it high-sided me in the gravel. It was only a small tip off but then the chain fell off so I had to put that back on. I cleaned it all off and I went quicker on the last two laps even with that.
"But with the front tyre we are just trying to find a combination between having out and out grip and the endurance. You can go as soft as you want to find some grip but you have also got to finish the 22-laps.”
Today's results are here