AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX - Free practice
MELANDRI QUICKLY ON THE PACE AT PHILLIP ISLAND
 Gresini
Honda rider Marco Melandri started the Australian Grand Prix
on the front foot, clocking the second fastest time on a day
that was marked by dramatically changeable weather at Phillip
Island. Marco made the most of the short dry track time to
work with his team on finding a good setting for the bike
and at the end of today's two free practice sessions he declared
himself pleased with its performance in both wet and dry conditions.
The weather did not play into the hands of Toni Elias, who
again suffered weight transfer diffficulties and was unable
to find a good feeling with his RC212V in the time available.
Variable conditions are again the forecast for tomorrow, with
improvements predicted for Sunday.
MARCO MELANDRI (2nd, 1'31"555): "I'm
quite happy with this first day. The characteristics of this
circuit are more suited to our bike and my riding style. There
are no real heavy braking areas - you have to be smooth with
the bike, and I like that. The bike is manageable and is working
well. I've got a good feeling with it in the wet and the dry
but we have to improve because I'm sure the race pace will
increase tomorrow. I'm confident but I just hope the weather
stabilises a little because it was really tough to ride today.
The wind was really strong and the conditions changed from
corner to corner."
TONI ELIAS (17th, 1'34"204): "It's
been a tough day - the weather was a lottery - one minute
rain, then sun, then raining again. The track dries quickly
because of the wind but it's not the same all over. Unfortunately
this didn't help us set the bike up and I was struggling to
get weight onto the front and get enough heat into the rear
tyre. I'm not happy and I'm hoping for better weather tomorrow
in order to improve."
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