I've been trying hard all weekend, but I just couldn't go fast in the qualifying. But when it came time to race the problems were a little less and I was able to battle my way up.

I'm quite confident, this is a good track, I think it's also a good track for Honda. I wish Honda could take the top three positions,

That race was so hard and I am very happy with the result in the end. Michelin did a great job with the tyres ­ the grip on the edge was unbelievable! When I opened the throttle there was so much traction it was incredible. My team has done a great job and even if we didn't win we improved again in the World Championship. It is good to be the best Michelin finisher and the first Honda home as well. I'm confident in Malaysia that we can take revenge on Bridgestone! They did a great job and Loris rode very hard ­ congratulations to them. A good battle to watch for the fans I think.

I really want to keep the second place in the championship and I want to show all my fans and my team that we can make it.

It was good to get out on the new machine today. I managed about 20 laps
and recorded my fastest lap of the day on the new machine. The new machine
has lots of potential and I can feel it is a little bit better than my 2005
machine in lots of areas. We found a lot of positive points for HRC to
develop - especially the feel of the machine under braking and turning into
corners. I'm looking forward to racing the machine as soon as it's available.

Sometimes I find it very hard to say something positive after days like these, ... I come to a track I love and have had such good results at in the past and I find that I can't ride to my full potential. We are losing time in many sections. We have tried many different solutions in a short time but have not come up with the best solution yet. We will see tomorrow - I hope for better.