Valencia MotoGP: James Toseland disappointed in 14th

James Toseland could not hide his disappointment after he qualified in a lowly 14th place for his final MotoGP in Valencia, the British rider comfortably outpaced by Ben Spies.

A lap of 1.34.107 left Toseland 0.6s adrift of Texan Spies, who is making his first appearance on board Yamaha’s YZR-M1 this weekend.

Toseland blamed blustery conditions for his struggle today as the 28-year-old finished just behind factory Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi.

While Toseland couldn’t break into the 1.33 bracket, Spies logged a best time of 1.33.539 to finish just 0.5s adrift of new Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Colin Edwards in fifth position.

Spies was only 0.6s behind reigning world champion Valentino Rossi and Toseland said: “The conditions were really difficult out there this afternoon. There was a really strong wind and it made reading the track conditions really difficult. The lap times were not brilliant this afternoon but that was because there was quite a lot of dust being blown onto the track and it wasn’t easy to find grip. The session certainly didn’t go as planned but I feel I’ve got a good and consistent set-up for the race tomorrow. Starting from 14th on the grid isn’t going to be easy at this track. It is quite tight and twisty and that makes it difficult to overtake. My plan is to make a good start and get into a consistent pace and finish the season on a high note.”