After what seemed to be promising practice sessions even in the dry, the Ducatis were once again mid field when it came to qualifying. Valentino Rossi could only manage ninth behind rookie Cal Crutchlow and Nicky Hayden fared even worse qualifying in a lowly thirteenth behind rookie Karel Abraham’s Cardion AB Ducati who finished in twelfth. The Pramac Ducatis were in even worse with Loris Capirossi and Randy De Puniet qualifying fourteenth and sixteenth respectively while Alvaro Bautista returning from injury qualified fifteenth. Positions eleven and twelve went to Hector Barbera on the Aspar Ducati and Hiroshi Aoyama on the satellite spec Gresini Honda. Tony Elias horrors continue as he yet again finds himself last on the grid, a position that is becoming customary of him.