MARCO MELANDRI SETS FRONT ROW PACE IN CHINA
Toni Elias just 9 tenths off top spot
 The
fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship promises to
be a close affair after fourteen riders lapped within just
0.9 seconds at the Shanghai International Circuit today on
the first day of the Grand Prix of China.
Marco Melandri made a great start to the weekend, using his
base setting from test session after Turkey GP to find an
immediate feeling with his Honda at another of the circuits
designed by German architect Herman Tilke. Marco is happy
with the work he's completed and is confident of making the
most of his qualifying tyre to secure a top position on the
grid.
Toni Elias also remains confident, if not particularly satisfied,
after lapping 14th fastest today, just nine tenths of a second
off pace setter John Hopkins. The Spaniard also plans to return
to his base setting from Turkey and save his best tyre from
today, so that he can get the most out of it tomorrow and
on Sunday in the race.
The weather forecast for tomorrow promises rain, leaving
the Honda Gresini facing a waiting game to see whether they
can further adapt the setting of their RC212V machines to
the demands of Shanghai.
MARCO MELANDRI (2nd, 2'01"204): "I'm
satisfied with this result. We started out with the base we
found during the test on the day after the race in Turkey
and the feeling was good straight away. The bike is working
well and I've rediscovered my feeling with the front. I'm
happy because I'm having fun on the bike again. I'm also confident
about the tyre choice. Today I tried the different options
available to us and I'm hopeful of making the most of the
qualifying tyre tomorrow to make sure of a good position on
the grid. I have to stay focused and improve my own performance
on the qualifying tyre. We're all very close so it looks like
being a tight and combative race."
TONI ELIAS (14th,2'02"114): "I
can't say I'm happy. We still have a lot of work to do but
we're not that far off where we need to be. Today we did some
tests with the setting, which didn't give the desired results,
so tomorrow we'll go back to the base from Turkey. We've worked
out which is the best tyre for the race so we're saving that
for tomorrow and Sunday. I just hope that practice is in the
dry tomorrow so that we can continue working on the bike."
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