BRAVE MELANDRI BATTLES TO TENTH
QUALIFYING - US GP
 Marco
Melandri fought bravely through the final half of this afternoon's
qualifying practice to secure tenth spot on the starting grid
for the USGP after suffering a heavy crash at the start of
the session.
With just nine laps under his belt the Gresini Honda rider
was negotiating turn four when he found Kurtis Roberts coasting
on the racing line. Melandri was unable to avoid contact with
the American, who was travelling at a very slow speed in the
middle of the track.
Marco jumped off his bike at high speed before colliding
with the air fences but the fall still left him with a twisted
left ankle and multiple contusions. After a quick check in
the medical centre, where the staff confirmed there were no
broken bones, Marco returned straight to the pit box and fought
through the pain to get back on track and qualify on the fourth
row of the grid for tomorrow's race.
MARCO MELANDRI (10th, 1'23"018): "I'm
gutted this has happned because I had a good feeling with
the bike and a front row start was within our capability.
I was fourth fastest when I ran into Kurtis, who was going
unusually slow. Despite the pain I wanted to get back on track.
It was tough to get through the left-handers and change gear,
especially uphill. Tomorrow will be tough. Now I just want
to focus on recovering as well as I can with the help of the
Clinica Mobile".
MIGUEL DUHAMEL (19th, 1'23"923) : "We're
working hard and for me this is like a continual test. We're
improving every time we go out. At the end of the session
I tried a qualifying tyre for the first time and improved
my time a lot so now my target is to have a consistent race.
I'm really enjoying the whole experience."
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