GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE
Qualifying practice / MELANDRI CLAIMS BEST QUALIFYING
RESULT OF THE SEASON
Marco Melandri secured his best qualifying result of the
season and will start tomorrow’s French GP from the
second row. The Italian rider ended the second day of qualifying
in fifth position, eight tenths behind pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa
on his Honda. Melandri knew how to adapt to the changeable
weather conditions with the morning session taking place on
a wet track and the afternoon in dry conditions. Forecasts
are predicting rain tomorrow so Marco is preparing himself
for a race in wet conditions. It was a difficult day for team-mate
Toni Elias who struggled to find the right set-up to improve
his lap time from yesterday. The Spanish rider continued to
suffer with rear grip problems and will start tomorrow’s
race in 16th position.
MARCO MELANDRI (1’34”795, 5th):
“It was a positive day, we worked well and found a
good set-up to work from. I think the set-up will work well
whatever the conditions in the race. The bike worked well
from the start in the qualifying session and I found a good
rhythm. However, I couldn’t make full use of the qualifying
tyre as I hit a bit of traffic which caused me to slow down.
However, I’m happy with fifth position, it’s my
best qualifying performance of the season and I have achieved
my objective which was to start from the first two rows. I
have to select the tyre for the race and then I hope to get
a good result.”
TONI ELIAS (1’36”582, 16th):
“I am still having a problem which is preventing me
from riding as I want. I will sit down with the team to try
and find a solution as soon as possible. I am still a little
nervous on the bike as I don’t have the rear grip I
want which is making it difficult to exit corners. It will
be a difficult race tomorrow, I hope to make a good start
and make up some positions. I like this circuit and have always
gone fast here so I hope to get a good result.”
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