ELIAS WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE OF JEREZ PODIUM
 Gresini
Honda rider Toni Elias met the huge expecations of the home
fans with a stunning ride in the Grand Prix of Spain, battling
for a podium position in a race won by Valentino Rossi, ahead
of Dani Pedrosa and Colin Edwards.
The youngster from Manresa, who celebrates his 24th birthday
tomorrow, recovered important positions after making a disappointing
start from the third row of the grid and charged through to
fourth place in a high-paced race. As the first Bridgestone
rider across the line, Elias once again showed his grit and
determination.
It was a real shame for his team-mate Marco Melandri, who
dominated the morning warm-up but didn't find the right feeling
with his bike for the race and struggled to eighth place.
Marco is now looking ahead to tomorrow's test and to the next
GP in Turkey, where he has taken victory for the past two
seasons.
TONI ELIAS (4th): "I'm really happy.
With respect to the race in Qatar we have grown a lot and
together with the team we've done a great job. I didn't get
a good start and in the beginning it was hard to get the tyres
up to temperature. I just tried to maintain a constant pace
and make up as many positions as possible. The pace of the
front guys was incredible but when the others started to have
problems I was able to maintain my pace and get past Stoner,
Checa, Melandri and Hayden. I'm the first Bridgestone rider
home so it's a good result. We've worked well together and
we still have some room for improvement."
MARCO MELANDRI (8th): "It's a disappointing
result at a circuit where I should have done much better.
This morning we were really quick in the warm-up and I was
confident but unfortunately in the race I suffered with the
same problem as in Qatar - to pass people I need to brake
in a really aggressive way and that takes too much out of
the front tyre. Tomorrow we have a day of tests to try a few
different solutions and we'll work particularly on the forks
ahead of the race in Turkey, a circuit that holds a lot of
good memories for me."
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