Ducati Marlboro Men On Rows Three & Four

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix from the third and fourth rows of the grid after running eighth and tenth quickest in this afternoon's qualifying session, staged in warm, sunny conditions.

Following a sequence of four races in which the team ran consistently up front, with two victories, one runner-up finish and one pole position, this track has proved a tougher challenge. Estoril was partially resurfaced for this event and the new tarmac doesn't seem to suit the team's bike/tyre package as well as was expected. Nevertheless Gibernau and Capirossi still have tomorrow's morning warm-up in which to improve, although the latest weather forecast suggests that rain could fall during the race, which starts at 1pm local time.

Sete Gibernau, Ducati Marlboro Team, 8th fastest, 1m 36.940s

"We are improving, getting closer every time but right now we're not too confident for the race. We tried two different ways with my two bikes today and we know which way to go, so hopefully we can improve things a bit more tomorrow morning. We have managed to gain a little more side grip with some changes to the set-up but we still need more. In warm-up we'll try and make another small improvement and see what Bridgestone can do to get us closer to the front. They are pushing really hard and they're very committed. There's a difference between the new and old tarmacs, which you maybe feel more when the bike/tyre package isn't 100 per cent. We've also got to see what happens with the weather though I'm not sure I'd want it to rain, so we've got to keep our heads down and see what happens."

Loris Capirossi, Ducati Marlboro Team, 10th fastest, 1m 37.182s

"We did a very good job on set-up, to the extent that we were among the fastest this morning. But then we ran into some tyre endurance problems, so we modified the set-up some more to try and help tyre life but that made the bike difficult to ride, so we went back a step with the settings. It is clear that we are not in the best of shape here, but I know Bridgestone and the team are as committed as ever to giving us what we need. The problem is the new tarmac which has been laid at the most crucial parts of the track - it's like a bad joke for us. Let's hope that the weather forecasts that predict rain are correct!"

Temperatures:

Ambient: 25 degrees
Track: 36 degrees

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