More points for KONICA MINOLTA Honda at a ‘difficult’
Donington Park
KONICA MINOLTA Honda scored more points at a difficult British
Grand Prix today. With weather conditions expected to stay
wet throughout the 30-lap race, the rain actually stopped
falling after a few laps and then the conditions quickly dried-up.
Despite the tricky conditions, 29-year-old Japanese rider
Shinya Nakano secured two World Championship points, allowing
the KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team to move up a place in the overall
MotoGP rider’s championship. The hectic pace of the
series now continues with the Team immediately heading to
Assen in Holland for round nine of the series, which takes
place at the legendary Circuit Van Drenthe on Saturday 30th
June.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA
Honda
“Today’s race was very hard for us due once more
to the very changeable weather conditions that we experienced!
We really wanted a full-wet race and I think like many Teams,
we were expecting the rain to stay, but after a few laps the
rain stopped and the track began to dry. From the middle of
the race, the conditions quickly dried out, making things
difficult for Shinya – especially in the last few laps
– but he managed to hold on for some points. This has
meant that we have overtaken a Team in the overall championship
standings. Now we have to concentrate on the next race, which
is less than a week away at Assen, in Holland. We hope that
we can have a race where the conditions stay constant for
everyone!”
Shinya Nakano – Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda
(14th position)
“With the conditions changing so much that was a difficult
race. I think my start was not so bad, but then during the
first lap I had a slide with the rear tyre and I had to catch
it before I fell down, this meant I lost a couple of places.
For the first 10 laps things were OK, but then the conditions
began to change and the track started to dry out. This meant
that I could not push hard as I would have liked, as when
the track began to dry, the tyre would slide more. When this
began to happen I decided to hang on and get some points for
the overall championship positions.”
Giulio Bernardelle – Technical Director, KONICA
MINOLTA Honda
“This morning in warm-up our position was not so bad
with the tyre we chose as the conditions were so wet. We decided
to start the race with the same rear tyre as the feeling from
Shinya this morning was better in comparison to Friday when
we first tested in the wet. With the rain falling just before
the race, this was the correct choice for us. Unfortunately
for us the conditions changed about a third of the way through
the race and the rain stopped and the track began to dry.
When conditions are stable – either full wet, or full
dry – Shinya is able to be more consistent, but when
the track is constantly changing the feeling for our rider
is not so good. We have scored points though and we have learned
a lot which we can take with us to Assen.”
British GP - Race results
1) Casey Stoner Ducati 50’ 40.739”
2) Colin Edwards Yamaha 51’ 52.507”
3) Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 51’ 56.417”
4) Valentino Rossi Yamaha 52’ 02.566”
5) John Hopkins Suzuki 52’ 16.257”
14) Shinya Nakano Honda 52’ 50.579” (- 1 Lap)
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