Casey Stoner (#27 Marlboro Ducati, pole position at 1:22.292):

Q Casey, your third pole of the season. That was some eventful session for you, and for a lot of other people as well. You really came strong right at the end.

A It seems to be a little bit of a strange race in general this weekend. We had Alex go out in the first session, and unfortunately now Marco having an unlucky spill there in the last qualifying. We managed to come out on top on my last tire. My first one, I made a really big mistake, but I wasn't too unhappy anyway, because I knew I'd be close enough to the front. We've been setting some really good times on race tires, so I think we feel pretty confident for the race.

Q You've led every session from Friday morning onwards. That's obviously given you great confidence.

A The same thing happened in Sachsenring, and unfortunately the race didn't go to plan. We had a small problem with the tire. But I think this weekend we can hope for a good race. I think we've done everything we can to prepare ourselves for the race tomorrow, and we seem to be setting some pretty good, consistent times. I think it's going to be a hard race tomorrow, especially doing 32 laps, but I feel strong, I feel fit, and I'm ready for it.

Q We spoke to you Thursday and obviously you hadn't been out on the
track. How is the new surface?

A They improved it a heck of a lot after the Corkscrew. It's definitely not nearly as rough there any more. But I feel that a few other areas, the bumps are actually a little bit worse than last year. But the surface itself, it seems to be holding together. Last year there was chunks of tarmac coming up and hitting you in the face. We don't exactly have that problem this weekend. So it seems a little bit more normal, I suppose, circumstances. I think with the surface they've done a good job.

Q The pole jinx has been there for 12 races now. But jinxes are there
to be beaten, aren't they?

A Everyone can call it a jinx, but I just think there's factors for the reason that the pole position man hasn't won. It's gone on for a while now, so hopefully we can beat that tomorrow.

Q It's got all the feelings of being a very close race tomorrow. It could be a real fight.

A I think there'll be a few riders up front, but not too many. This circuit's been known to stretch the field out quite a bit, and I think we're going to see similar there tomorrow. There might be a few riders battling up front, and then there might be a bit of a gap back to the rest. We'll see what happens, and we'll see who's got the pace to stay at the front.

Dani Pedrosa (#26 Repsol Honda, second quick at 1:22.501):

Q Dani, it's been a good weekend for you so far.

A Yes. We are improving every practice, so this is important. I think this track, with the modified on the surface, has been improved in some parts but not in the others. We'll see. I think tomorrow is going to be a long race. Sure we are in the front row, and that is very important for the start.

Q You set some very consistent times on race tires throughout practice.

A Yes. That was important. We improved every practice. The pace was improving also. We'll see for the race. I think it will be long, so tires will be important, for sure.

Q You never quite know, do you, how tires are going to react for such a long race, but as Germany showed, Michelin's certainly come right back in the fray.

A Yes. It was good for us, the tire. We'll see if here we can have also good tires to the end, and I think that's a very important thing. It's one of the key points of the track, I think.

Chris Vermeulen (#71 Rizla Suzuki, third quick at 1:22.590):

Q Chris, you're right up there with the top guys.

A Yeah, for sure. It's a track I enjoy, and like Casey said, they've made big improvements with the surface here this year, and it's a lot more enjoyable to ride. It's not near as bumpy, and I'm loving it out there. The session went quite well. The bike's working very well. The tires, they're definitely durable enough, it's just picking the right one that's going to last best or start out best for the race. But no, qualifying was an interesting session for me. I actually used a race tire. I tried a couple of qualifiers, but I couldn't get up to speed with them, so I went quicker on the race tire and that's what I qualified on.

Q That must be very encouraging.

A Well, it is, yeah, but he can do them as well, that's the thing. It's never easy, but it's going to be a tough race tomorrow. The times are very close. There's a lot of guys that can do that lap on pretty much any tire. But like Casey said, it's important to get out front early or be in the front group, because it can stretch out here, and once you lose the tire, that's it.

Q You've got a lot of experience at Laguna, and you've talked about the surface. Safety here has also, as we saw with Marco Melandri's crashes, improved so dramatically, hasn't it. I think that's real proof of how hard everybody's worked to try and make this circuit safer.

A Yeah, definitely. The first time I came here was in '04 on the Superbike, and it wasn't a dangerous track then, but they've definitely made big improvements now. It's a real exciting track to ride, with the up and down and blind sections, but sometimes that does make it harder for the safety areas. But I think they've done a great job. Marco's crash was a strange one, to say the least. You wouldn't expect to run off there. But the air fence did its job. I haven't heard, but it looked like it was no major injuries. That's good to hear.

Q Casey thought that a few riders would run at the front, perhaps maybe not as many as qualifying would suggest. But the first 15 are all within one second. So it could be a race at the front with not quite as many as qualifying tells us.

A It's hard to say. It's MotoGP. There's 15 riders that can go and win the race any weekend. It's always close. I'm just putting my head down and doing my own job, and try my hardest.

Q I suppose you've already answered the question about tire selection, since you qualified on race tires. But can you make any changes tomorrow, would it make any difference if the weather is much the same?

A That's what they say, the weather's going to be the same. I've tried the tires we've selected, all the compounds, and they all seem to be working well, so it's just picking the right one that's going to be as fast at the start as it is at the end, and see where we go.

Q Casey, you've been receiving a lot of praise this season. As a young rider, how do you take it all in?

STONER: I've also had a lot of criticism this year, so it's kind of balanced itself out. It's only a certain amount of people that the praise really matters from, and they're the ones closest to you, I suppose. I've been doing my own thing this year, and we've been competitive. We've had a great season so far, and I don't think anybody can bag me, or the team, or the tires, the job that everybody's done together. It's a team effort, so I'm happy.

Q Dani, were you able to do race distance on any tires, and do you think you have one for the race?

PEDROSA: Yes. I have two options, but still I have to decide which one is the better one. We'll see tomorrow.

Q Dani, you seem like you've been there or thereabouts all season. You've run near the front for some of the races, but now, after Sachsenring, now this weekend you're in a position where you can actually fight for the lead. Is it more that Michelin has come up to speed, or has it more been that you have more confidence in the motorcycle?

PEDROSA: It's a combination of everything. Sure Michelin have, I hope, tomorrow, also, but it's normal if you have a tire that [inaudible]. I think everything is [inaudible].

Q Chris, was the tire you used to qualify on the tire you're going to use tomorrow, or was it a little bit too soft?

VERMEULEN: It's probably the tire I'm going to race on, but as well,
I've got two options, basically, and I've got to decide. But yeah, this is one of the tires that I might choose to race on.

Q Why didn't you improve with the qualifying tire? Was it your fault, or the tire?

VERMEULEN: I don't know. It just didn't work. I don't know whose fault
it was, but I couldn't go quicker on it. It worked for Casey but not for me. Suzuki obviously uses the tire in a different way than the Ducati. Next time. We've got to learn from that and improve from it, but yeah, this weekend, it didn't work.