ELIAS STARTS FROM ROW TWO, MELANDRI CLOSE BEHIND
 Toni
Elias and Marco Melandri will start from the second and third
rows in the Grand Prix of France tomorrow after the Honda
Gresini pair qualified in sixth and ninth place respectively.
The Spanirad was in top form in the morning free practice,
when he set the second fastest time, and made the most of
his qualifying tyre in the afternoon to lap just half a second
off the pace of pole setter Colin Edwards. Toni is confident
that his feeling with the bike and good race pace can translate
into a top result tomorrow.
Marco Melandri was unable to make the most of his good effort
in free practice once the qualifiers came out in the afternoon.
However, the Italian also has good race pace and is typically
determined to get a good start and stay with the lead group.
The weather looks unpredictable for tomorrow, with a drop
in temperature the forecast.
TONI ELIAS (6th,1'34"125): "I'm
happy to be on the second row - this was our objective. We've
done a good job over the last two days of practice. This morning
I set a good pace but the situation was a little more complicated
when the temperature rose in the afternoon. Hopefully the
conditions for the race tomorrow are similar to this morning
and I can get a good start and fight with the lead group."
MARCO MELANDRI (9th, 1'34"360): "We'
ve been working mainly on the race setting and I have to say
that my pace is quite good. Unfortunately I wasn't able to
make the most of the qualifying tyre because I made a mistake
on the last lap that cost me a few vital tenths. We'll keep
working in the warm-up tomorrow to improve the feeling with
the front, which will be really important to make up positions
from the first lap. It will be important to get a good start
in the race. The weather looks like it could change so we'll
wait until tomorrow before deciding on the tyre.".
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