ELIAS STAGES STUNNING CHARGE AT MUGELLO
Melandri finishes ninth despite a great start
 It
proved to be a tough home Grand Prix for Team Honda Gresini
at Mugello, in particular for local rider Marco Melandri,
who was unable to get the best out of his bike in the race
despite a great start from the second row. Marco charged to
third place in the early stages but ran into problems after
just a few laps and was unable to maintain the pace of the
lead group.
There was a positive side to the day though for the team
as Melandri’s team-mate Toni Elias mounted a superb
charge from the fifth row of the grid to finish sixth. Toni
can now look forward to his home race next weekend with renewed
optimism as the Grand Prix circus heads to the Catalunya Circuit,
just a few kilometres from the Honda Gresini man’s home.
TONI ELIAS (6th in the race, 8th in the
championship on 45 points): “Sixth place at Mugello
is a good result, especially having started from fifteenth.
The team did a great job and in the warm-up we took a big
step forward with the set-up. I got a good start and tried
to make up position but unfortunately the front tyre choice
was a little too soft for today's track conditions and after
a few laps I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to. I’m
happy though and I’m looking forward to racing in front
of my home fans in Barcelona next Sunday.”
MARCO MELANDRI (9th in the race, 4th in
the championship on 68 points): “I got a good start
and I was flying over the first few laps but then I started
to struggle. The bike was skipping around and from being in
third place I dropped back to ninth. I’m disappointed
because this is a special race for me. We’ve had this
problem to a varying degree since the start of the season
and at the moment we can’t come up with a solution.”
FAUSTO GRESINI: “I’m happy for
Toni because he put together a great fightback and got the
maximum performance out of the material he had at his disposition
this weekend. I feel sorry for Marco because I thought he
was all set for a top race and it looked that way after a
couple of laps but he ran into some difficulties that didn’t
allow him to fight for the result he deserved.”
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