NAKANO IN JEREZ TOP TEN, DE ANGELIS GAINS CRUCIAL EXPERIENCE
 San
Carlo Honda Gresini riders Shinya Nakano and Alex De Angelis
ended up 9th and 14th respectively on Sunday, as the Spanish
Grand Prix concluded at the Jerez de la Frontera Circuit.
After a good start Alex lost several positions and ended up
in a battle lower down the order, fighting with Melandri and
West before coming home 14th. Shinya was matching the times
of the second group of riders in the race who were chasing
5th place and was involved in duels with Australian pair Stoner
and Vermeulen, before he crossed the line 9th.
Alex de Angelis (14th): “I am not
happy about today’s performance. Unfortunately, on the
first lap, even though my start was good I got caught up with
a group of riders and lost some places which I couldn’t
make up. I was trying to make a comeback but kept losing places
on the straight. I also felt that the traction control was
taking away from my pace and that cost me in the end. It’s
the same as in Qatar really and I hope to put things right
starting from tomorrow with Bridgestone’s help. They
are going to give us some new material that we have not tested
before.”
Shinya Nakano (9th): “I made a good
start and made up a few places. I was behind the fastest group
and I was able to follow them for a while but at around the
halfway mark a couple of riders caught me and I lost some
ground. At the end I had a fight with Vermeulen and two laps
from the end I got past him and was going for the group ahead
of me again. Throughout the weekend I’ve been able to
constantly lower my times thanks to the work of the team and
this leaves me quite optomistic for the next race. Thanks
to all my mechanics for their work."
Fausto Gresini – Team Manager: “We
are not that happy with the result but at least both riders
finished the race. Shinya won his battle with Vermeulen, to
get ninth place, which was good. Obviously we expect more
of ourselves and we will work hard to achieve better results
in the future: results that reflect our potential. We don’t
want to stop where we are and therefore hard work awaits us,
but that is the job of the team and of the riders."
|
