Misano MotoGP: James Toseland rues late mistake

James Toseland was left to rue a mistake on his final qualifying tyre that he believes cost him a starting slot on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s Misano GP.

Toseland will start ninth after he clocked a best time of 1.34.652, though he feels it could have much better.

He was also lucky though not to have crashed in the late drama that left him on the third row.

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider said: “I’m a bit frustrated because I think I should have been on the second row and maybe as high as fourth. We made a step with the bike set-up but on my last qualifier I got the penultimate corner pretty good, so I whacked on the throttle and the rear came round on me.

“It stopped before I was on a trip to the moon, but the bike had gone into a bit of a headshake and I just missed my braking point for the last corner and ran slightly wide. I lost at least a couple of tenths and that cost me the second row.

“But so far it has been a good weekend and the tyres have been much better from Michelin. And I’ve had time to work on the setting with the weather staying consistent, which has been a massive help.

“Too often this season when I’ve really needed dry time to help me get up to speed, the weather has gone against us. But this weekend it’s helped me work from a base setting and we have been able to improve the bike.”

Toseland said he was expecting a tough race, particularly given the searing hot temperatures that have dominated the weekend so far.

Tyre endurance will be critical and Toseland said: “”It is going to be a long and hard race and we’ve got to wait and see what tyre endurance is going to be like with the conditions being so hot. Nobody has done more than 15 or 16 laps so it will be tough, but I think I’ve got a good race set-up to give me a good chance.

“From the problems that we have in the last few races, Michelin have responded well, but I’m not sure what the grip will be like after 15 laps. But I definitely think we can be fighting for the top six, which is where we have not been able to be for a couple of months now.”