Team San Carlo Honda Gresini ready to charge in historic
night race
Alex de Angelis made his MotoGP qualifying debut today with
the twelfth fastest time, a result that doesn’t reflect
his race potential after a crash on his final qualifying tyre
ruined his chances of improving at the end of the session.
However, in the final free practice the San Marino rider had
worked hard to improve his race set-up and he found a good
feeling that allowed him to challenge at the top of the time
sheets, in touch with the pacesetters of the class.
Shinya Nakano continued to work hard during both of today’s
sessions to improve his own race pace but he also struggled
to make a significant step forward on qualifying rubber.
The first few laps of tomorrow’s race will be crucial
for the Team San Carlo Honda Gresini pair, who will have to
make up several positions if they are to maximise their true
potential in race trim.
Alex de Angelis (17 laps, 1.55.692, 12th):
“I’m a little disappointed to be twelfth on the
grid because as we have seen my race pace is very different
and I managed fourth in the last free practice. Obviously
that is a bit of a shame so we need to work hard with Bridgestone
on the qualifiers, gather some data and work together to achieve
better starting positions in the future. Tomorrow I’ll
do my best and I’m sure the result will be much better
than today.”
Shinya Nakano (23 laps, 1.56.434, 15th):
“I’m not happy with today because qualifying is
so important and I couldn’t improve my pace as I’d
wanted. Both myself and the team have done our best but the
chance has gone and now we have to think about the race. We’ll
have to get a good start and I’ll do my best to achieve
the best result in this first GP of the 2008 Season.”
Fausto Gresini – Team Manager: “I
think they have been two positive days for Alex. In race trim
he has been consistently fast and we know we’ve struggled
a little with the qualifiers. It’s not nice to be starting
so far back but I think if Alex can get his pace together
he can have a good race. Tomorrow is the first race of the
season and Alex’s debut appearance in MotoGP so we’re
looking forward to seeing how he does. Shinya has worked hard
all weekend, we didn’t manage the time we’d hoped
for on qualifying tyres but we’ll see. He’s a
little behind but it’s his first race of the season
too and there is plenty of time for him to find his way.”
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