I'm looking forward to this end part of the season, ... Riding
the bike in Japan for a factory Honda rider is a real honour. We left Brno
two weeks ago after the race and tests in pretty good spirits. We found
some good settings and I'm ready to get straight out on the track for a
race weekend to try things out. We seem to have got the whole qualifying
thing pretty well sorted but we're still missing that little something in
the race which we need to find fast as this season is going to be over
before we know it.

It's been a really worthwhile test, ... We worked on getting into the corners a bit quicker and we made a lot of progress with some improved front fork settings. To lap in 1m 57s on race tyres is a massive step forward and much better than I could have ever expected.

We've improved the machine, found some good tires and I think I've improved my riding as well over these past two days.

It's been a really worthwhile test and we've achieved a lot. We've got the machine much better turning into corners and the Michelin race tyres I tried today were superb. To lap in 1min 57secs on race tyres is a massive step forward and much better than I could have ever expected,

The race is always what's important. Qualifying now is so important. You have so many riders, so close together. The way the grid is it's really important to qualify well. The bike feels so much better today than yesterday. We didn't change anything major - just a few little things to get it to steer and get my confidence up to where I can ride it. That last lap was fun. Michelin qualifiers around here… you can hang it out and go for it. When you've got that grip you just kind of open the throttle and go for it. I feel like with a good start we can be right in there with the boys.

Things are steadily coming better, but I'm having problems with a few places on the track.