Gibernau's position came from a time set yesterday. However, he did achieve the second-fastest speed-trap time.

Roberts improved his machine settings and cut almost a quarter of a second off his previous best time to maintain his 12th position.

Both riders have been enjoying the benefit of the major redesign to the Suzuki slipper clutch, used for the first time at this meeting. Although riders and technicians are still working on basic adjustments, the advantages are clear, in smoother corner entry and more predictable throttle-closed performance.

Now the big question concerns the weather. Dry but windy yesterday, it turned today, with several light showers making for difficult conditions. On past history, a wet track could favour both riders.

SETE GIBERNAU - Ninth Position, 1:40.747 - "Because of the weather, we all had to wait until the end to try for a better lap time. We have a couple of things we want to change for tomorrow, then I will need to try and stay out as long as possible in morning warm-up to get some laps up. It was a very stressful end of session, but things like this happen sometimes. We've been working hard, and I think we deserved better."

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. - 12th Position, 1:40.965 - "We improved our lap time from yesterday, which at least shows we made the bike better. Considering that most of the day was damp, that's something. Again, I did that time with four or five laps on the tyre, so it was a race time, not a one-lap qualifier. We're starting to get the settings refined for the new clutch. It feels much better for me, and it means we can set the bike up more precisely. That's been our main focus. There are still four turns where I am unhappy and losing time - one is the last corner, which is fast and affects your speed down the straight. My team think they have found a way to solve that for tomorrow, which should help my consistency. We have to wait and see what the weather will do, but I'm comfortable we can aim for a good finish."

GARRY TAYLOR - Team Manager - "It was a bit confusing, after Sete set second-fastest speed-trap time, but is only on the third row. The redesigned slipper clutch is still very new, but already we're feeling the benefit. Kenny and Sete have both shown they can pull good results out of the bag if they can get a good start and then ride aggressively. Tomorrow's catch-phrase will be: "Go for it."