Saturday, 28 August 2010 22:11 by Nereo Balanzin

The guilty party is clear: “If it were not for that freaking bump in turn six... the Safety Commission has been asking that it be fixed for two years now.  It is something you expect on a public road, not on a racetrack..." This was the reaction of Valentino Rossi at the end of qualifying, and after his second crash of the day.  "I don't think I have crashed twice in one day since 1996." For the record, that was his rookie season in 125cc.

After a statement like that, you would expect Rossi's overall view to be quite pessimistic.  But things actually aren't all that bad: “Even if that was the worst time to crash, when I had just put on a new tire, it was a good session overall.  We made a good step forward compared to this morning.  It will be tough, whether we use the hard or the soft compound, but I am starting to ride well.  There are some surprises in front of us..." Rossi went on, referring to the performances of Spies and Hayden.  "Hopefully we can have some fun in the race tomorrow.  I looks like Lorenzo will find himself with a Jorge for a teammate next year," Rossi quipped, hinting at Spies' role in the factory team next year.

Regarding the talk of who is getting what equipment, Rossi affirmed, “I have all that I need.  It is my team and I that are behind on the setup, but our race pace isn't bad." He added that he thinks only Lorenzo has a better race pace, and not the others.