Friday, 25 March 2011 20:09 by Claudio Porrozzi

Max Biaggi was looking "ultra-professional" in the Aprilia garage, at the conclusion of the first qualifying session.  He had just come from a debrief with team engineers, during which they discussed the changes which helped him go fastest.

"We worked really well - Max said - this morning we understood what we needed to do, especially in the new chicane where we were struggling a little.  We tried a few solutions, maybe three or four, and in the end we found one that worked.  We were getting some vibrations at this track and we didn't know what was causing them: the grip, the asphalt or the suspension.  In the end we seemed to solve the problem."

But today's fastest lap might not hold up: "I wanted to put a good lap under my belt, because we don't know what the weather will be like tomorrow.  So I did the best I could without pushing the limit too hard.  If the conditions are good again tomorrow, we might be able to improve, but not by much."

Biaggi then took the opportunity to publicly apologize to Michel Fabrizio: "There was a misunderstanding for which I apologize.  I came underneath him in turn eight and we touched.  I'm sorry that he crashed, but I certainly didn't do it on purpose."

Max also went to the Suzuki Alstare garage to tell Michel he was sorry, but his fellow Roman - visibly upset, and not only because of the crash - had already gone to his motorhome.