DIFFICULTIES CONTINUE FOR FORTUNA HONDA RIDERS
Toni and Marco will start from the fourth and fifth
rows respectively
Marco Melandri's fall on Friday affected his performance
on the second day of qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix,
with the FORTUNA HONDA RIDER having to settle for 15th place
on the grid. The Italian opted to focus his attention on set
up solutions and tyre selection on Saturday and was 12th fastest
in the morning session. He went 0.8 seconds fastest in the
afternoon, but still finished down in 15th.
Forecasts are predicting rain on Sunday and that could help
the Italian recover some places in the race itself.
Melandri's team-mate Toni Elias put in a solid showing and
claimed 11th spot on the grid. The Spaniard will now hope
to make a fast start tomorrow and latch on to the lead group.
TONI ELIAS (11th, 1'37"245): "I
am not satisfied with my position on the grid, although we
did a good job. We are improving every day and now we must
get the result to confirm it. I am feeling good on the bike
and hope to make a good start tomorrow and make up positions
as quickly as possible. I like this circuit and am confident
of having a good race tomorrow."
MARCO MELANDRI (15th, 1'37"582): "Physically
I am improving, I feel better than I thought. The knee is
still hurting me and is causing pain in the left-hand corners,
but this is not the main problem which is preventing me from
lapping faster. The bike is working well and the team is doing
a good job. We have tried various different tyres and set
up solutions but we still don't have enough grip to ride smoothly.
I hope to try some more tyres tomorrow morning and to improve
my feeling. According to the weather forecast, it should rain.
I hope to race on the wet to recover important positions.
I'm motivated."
OFFICIAL TIMES:
1. V.Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 1'36"200
2. C.Edwards (Usa/Yamaha) 1'36"478
2. N.Hayden (Usa/Honda) 1'36"549
11. T.Elias (Sp/Honda) 1'37"245
15. M.Melandri (Ita/Honda) 1'37"582
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