Third and fifth rows for Fiat Yamaha in Sepang

Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards are faced with a difficult challenge for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang after struggling during qualifying this afternoon. The team worked hard throughout the day to rectify the lack of grip from which both riders have been suffering, but they were unable to find a competitive package and the pair now face a daunting task for tomorrow's 21-lap race when they start from ninth and thirteenth positions. The rain stayed away today and during this morning's session, with temperatures in the low 30s and conditions of the newly improved track becoming increasingly more consistent as more rubber was laid down, times improved all round. Rossi and Edwards both made some positive steps forward and finished the session in seventh and thirteenth, confident of more improvements this afternoon. However this was not to be and a lack of grip on race tyres this afternoon kept the pair down in the lower orders, before they made their qualifying challenges in the last 15 minutes. Rossi briefly held second after his first qualifying lap but several riders went faster and a small mistake with his second tyre meant he was unable to improve again. Ninth place puts him on the outside of the third row, whilst Edwards will start from the head of the fifth row after failing to find a comfortable rhythm with either of his qualifying tyres. Valentino Rossi - Position: 9th Time: 2'02.466 Laps: 22 "This morning things were feeling better for us and we were a little bit more confident. Unfortunately this afternoon, with the higher temperatures, our tyres didn't work in the same way and we were much slower and sliding quite a lot. With the qualifying tyre I was quite confident and they worked quite well, as they have all season, and I thought there was a chance for the front row. With the second one I thought we could improve again but I had a slide in the third section and lost some time, and so now we are on the third row. I am quite disappointed because our race pace is not good at the moment and we needed to be on the front row to give us the best chance possible for tomorrow. It will be difficult to use the warm-up to our advantage because the conditions are different to those we will probably have during the race, but anyway we will do what we can and try to make the best from the situation." Colin Edwards - Position: 13th Time: 2'03.040 Laps: 19 "There's really very little to say about today and I think it's better if I say "no comment!" We've got some big problems and it hasn't been fun. I want to say thanks to all my guys; they're working so hard to try and make a difference and find a way to improve things and I know they won't give up at any point. It's going to be a very hard race but it's not over till it's over so we'll just have to wait and see what we can improve before 3pm tomorrow and what happens after the lights go out." Davide Brivio - Team Director "We're in quite a difficult position and now we have to try our hardest to find a better package for the race. At the moment we just don't have enough grip and both riders are struggling to contend with this, so we are quite slow. This morning both Valentino and Colin made some good improvements but this afternoon we were unable to continue in the same way. We couldn't find the right combination to challenge with today but we have some ideas and we will be doing our utmost to give both of them a more competitive package for tomorrow's race." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 2'1.877 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 2'1.918 3, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 2'1.944 4, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'2.107 5, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 2'2.202 6, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 2'2.225 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 2'2.301 8, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 2'2.432 9, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 2'2.466 10, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 2'2.697 11, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 2'2.708 12, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 2'3.022 13, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 2'3.040 14, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 2'3.233 15, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 2'3.408 16, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 2'3.525 17, Chaz Davies, Ducati, GBR, 2'4.197 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 2'4.314 19, Nobuatsu Aoki, Suzuki, JPN, 2'4.604 20, Kurtis Roberts, KR212V, USA, 2'5.404