OPTIMISTIC COMEBACK FOR ELIAS. GUINTOLI THIRTEENTH
Surely a proof of character for Toni Elias who, starting
from the last position in the British Grand Prix, gritted
his teeth giving all he had from the first to the last turn.
At the end of the first lap the Spanish rider had already
gained two positions on Hopkins and Toseland who unluckily
slipped in the first turn. Constancy allowed the Alice Team
rider to improve lap after lap registering his best lap time
in the 21st lap when he was in twelfth position. In the last
lap, after a battle which lasted seven laps, the Catalan rider
made the last overtake which put him in eleventh position
which means five world championship points. Elias, now, is
in fourteenth position in the World Classification with 29
points, together with Marco Melandri. His teammate Sylvain
Guintoli, after the good start that saw him in eleventh position
for the first six laps, has concluded in thirteenth position.
The French rider is now in seventeenth position in the 2008
MotoGP classification.
Fabiano Sterlacchini – Technical Director
“With all the difficulties we found this weekend, weather
conditions included, the eleventh position gives us good hopes.
To start from the last position is never easy, mostly mentally,
but Toni has always demonstrated his strong and determined
character during his career. We knew that with this track
conditions, much more similar to the last Barcelona test,
we were more competitive. Next weekend in Assen we will try
other solutions tried during the test to improve even more.”
Toni Elias – Alice Team rider (11th in the
race – 14th in the MotoGP Classification)
“Let’s put it this way, I am happy for all we
have done today. With my Team we have worked intensively to
find the best solution possible. I would say that we have
done a good job. Naturally the eleventh place doesn’t
make me happy, but for how it went yesterday I can consider
myself satisfied. I am an aggressive rider and I like to overtake,
but I would like to be able to fight also for better positions.
In four days we will back on track and I hope to continue
in this direction.”
Sylvain Guintoli – Alice Team rider (13th in
the race – 17th in the MotoGP Classification)
“I started well and I remained in eleventh position
for many laps. I didn’t push too hard in the first half
of the race because today we tried a new front tyre that I
never used before and we have done many modifications in the
front part of the bike. After ten laps I found a good rhythm
on 1’30. I made it to maintain it until the end, but
even if it was a rhythm much better compare to my lap time
registered on Friday, I didn’t make it to step up in
the classification.”
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