SECOND PLACE FEELS LIKE A WIN FOR MELANDRI
 The
Italian is back on the podium at Sepang as Elias battles to
sixth
Marco Melandri produced yet another heroic performance to
add to his collection this season, this time at Sepang, putting
his Gresini Honda back on the podium after taking second place
in extremely demanding conditions.
Melandri fought the heat and humidity from the first lap
to stay with the lead group, forcing his way up to second
place after passing Randy De Puniet and Dani Pedrosa. Marco,
empowered by a strong bike-tyre combination this weekend,
even gave chase to race leader and World Champion Casey Stoner
but his charge was foiled by a mid-race mistake. Nevertheless,
a superb podium finish has propelled Marco to fourth in the
riders' championship on 174 points.
MARCO MELANDRI (2nd in the race, 4th in the championship):
"This podium feels like a victory to us. I was never
on the podium here at Sepang and I don't think it is a circuit
that suits my riding style or our bike. Anyway, today proved
that when you have a great package of bike and tyres, as I
did today, you can be fast anywhere. After a good warm-up
this morning I was confident for the race. I was nervous before
the start because I tried to move a little bit the valve for
the drink but I made a mistake and pulled it out! The water
was continually coming out so I tried to disconnect the tube
but for the first two laps every time I was braking the water
that still was in the tube was coming out inside the visor
so it was difficult and I was a bit nervous. But after that
I took my rhythm and I was pretty fast. I caught Dani, I tried
to catch Casey but I had a big moment with the front end and
I lost almost one second in one lap. After I tried to catch
him back and i pushed a lot. Then, at 2 laps to go, when it
was not possible to catch him, I thought it was really very
good for me to be second so I just want to say thanks to Fausto
and my team for these 3 years we have raced together".
TONI ELIAS (6th in the race, 12th in the championship):
"I'm happy with this result. Everything was
working well in the warm-up and we expected a good race. In
the afternoon, when temperatures increased, we struggled a
litle bit more. I had some good battles out there as I came
through the pack. Once the tyres went off, I just focused
on hanging on for a top result. Compared to Phillip Island,
we've made a big step forward here and I'm now looking forward
to the last race at Valencia, in Spain, in front of my fans."
|
