Jorge Lorenzo: "Each pole position has felt like a dream and I can’t believe I am here again! I am very proud to have a record like this and in fact I’m especially happy to have qualified in front here because this track has always been quite difficult for me and I’ve never been on pole at it before. Our race pace is quite good and now the aim for tomorrow will be to make the most of my starting position, stay at the front and hopefully fight for the win. It’s going to be a hard race and there are many strong riders, but I am looking forward to it. Our aim is to try to win but if that’s not possible then the podium will be okay; it’s still only my third race and I am still learning all the time! Anyway, I feel good on my bike and tyres, the team have done a great job and now we just have to cross our fingers for good weather tomorrow!"

Valentino Rossi: "I’m really happy! It’s very important to be on the first row here and now we can think about trying to win tomorrow. We’ve made some big steps forward with Bridgestone and considering that every time we use the qualifying tyre it’s still a bit like a test, it’s a great achievement to be here. Today my bike and tyres worked very well and I felt confident and strong. We have a good setting and I can ride how I want to, which is great fun as well! Now I really hope that we can have a good race tomorrow. The weather is a worry and we will have to wait until last thing to make our final tyre choice, but we have some good ideas. Lorenzo and Pedrosa are looking very strong but I think we are not so far and we have a chance to be there tomorrow. There is a great atmosphere in our box and everyone is looking forward to tomorrow’s challenge.”

Dani Pedrosa: "Our target was always to start from the front row and we achieved it. We are happy with today’s qualifying result, especially because it’s very important to start from the front row at this track and because qualifying isn’t our strong point at the moment. Our race pace was good today, but we still want to try and improve the bike a little bit more, working on the chassis settings. Also, we haven’t chosen which tyres we will use tomorrow because the weather conditions are so changeable here, so we will have wait a bit more. The big question is what the weather will do tomorrow afternoon. I’m looking forward to the race. It will be very important to make a good start, then we will see what we can do from there. I expect it to be very close at the front tomorrow because there’s a lot of riders going fast here, for sure it’s going to be tough.”

Nicky Hayden: “We’re right there, but just missing that last little bit. Everything went relatively smooth today, though I definitely thought we were capable of being on the front row – bike, tyres, even the rider – but we just didn’t get it done. Race pace I don’t think we’re a long way off but definitely we could do with a bit more. The Michelin tyres are working good, the bike’s good, we just need to get it better in the slow changes of direction. My ideal time had me third. On one of my fast laps I had to follow Toseland, when he wasn’t on a fast lap, through turn five and into six, which kinda ruined that lap. At the time I was pretty fired up about it. He was man enough to come and apologise, but at the time I didn’t want to hear sorry. It happens though, I’m sure I’ve got in somebody’s way, and I can get over it, it’s no big thing. It should be a good race, so long as no one’s sandbagging too much this week. Be nice to be on the podium, see what the weather does and see if we can get it done.”

Colin Edwards: “My first qualifier was decent and my second and third felt better. But on my last tyre I made a couple of little mistakes and that costs you a lot of time. I was pushing extra hard knowing I’d lost time and just ended up making another mistake trying to claw it back. But I was less than a tenth off the front row and while it would have been good to keep that record going I’m still happy, especially for Yamaha. To have four of us in the top six is how it should be when you don’t have chatter, you have a chassis with feel and confidence from the front."

James Toseland: "I’m a second off pole and still sixth which just shows how fast the boys at the front are going because normally a second covers all of us. I’m really pleased to get on the second row and it is a massive boost for me knowing I can come to a track I’ve never even seen before and be competitive near the front. Considering the first session was damp, and I crashed at the start of the second session, with the track time I have had a second row start is a great effort from the team. I had a small problem with my first qualifier on the left side but the other two worked really well and thanks to Michelin for that. I just made a few small mistakes because to go two seconds quicker on the qualifying tyres on a track I don’t know is a big ask."

Casey Stoner: "We were struggling a little bit for confidence coming here after the problems we had at Jerez and even though I was expecting a better performance at this track we've found similar difficulties. We're really struggling for a set-up and I don't think there's much more we can get out of the bike here. Even so, we need to look ahead to the warm-up tomorrow to try and find a better solution in a way that will let me fight in the race."

Andrea Dovizioso: "Compared to yesterday in both the morning and afternoon sessions we improved the pace for the race and this is positive. Our pace is consistent but we need to do better and this is something that we will do! I know there is a gap up to the riders ahead, but we will make up this ground and tomorrow in the race as usual I will give my maximum. My goal was the second row and that’s why I’m not so happy about today’s result, so we have to work harder in qualifying. The confidence I have at this track and the familiarity with the layout helps me in any case better understand my RC212V."