Back to Europe at Le Mans for KONICA MINOLTA Honda
KONICA MINOLTA Honda heads back to Europe for this weekend’s
French Grand Prix seeking a good result at the 2.6 mile Bugatti
circuit of Le Mans. After the Chinese GP where he recorded
his first DNF of the season through no fault of his own, Shinya
Nakano is looking forward to the challenging and technical
Le Mans circuit, a track at which he has enjoyed and performed
well at before. Last year the 29-year-old former qualified
second on the grid for the race.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA
Honda
“I think Le Mans can be the place for us to improve
our results. Michelin know the track and the tarmac well of
the famous Bugatti circuit and I am sure that Michelin will
provide us with new tires allowing Shinya to get a better
feeling from the Honda RC212V. During the first four races
the Team tested many different settings but every time we
had to revert to the setting that Shinya chose from the beginning
of the season. This European round will be important because
it’s vital that we get a good result. On the business
side of things, our organization is doing well and thanks
to the services offered to our Sponsors and Partners, from
Le Mans GP we will be joined by the multi-national Company
‘Whirlpool’. I’m glad that another big sponsor
enters MotoGP with JiR. Whirlpool will join us from the French
GP until Assen and the target of this operation will be to
approach the female world that could represent a new target
audience for Motorsport. Whirlpool is one of the brands to
be displayed on the lower part of the Honda RC212V’s
fairing of Shinya Nakano at the side of the logo of the Cycling
World Championships “Varese 2008”. With Konica
Minolta we have been very successful in involving the branches
to be part of our GP programme and our business plan is to
use our MotoGP programme to reach our Sponsors’ customers.
JiR has a clear identity in this and we enjoy the challenge
of striving for excellence both on-track and in our business
dealings.”
Shinya Nakano – Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda
“It’s fair to say that we did not have a good
weekend last time out in China, but I know the Team and I
will bounce back for Le Mans. I’m hoping that we will
be much stronger on race tyres here as I really enjoy the
circuit layout. Last year at the French GP I almost got pole,
but eventually was bumped-back to second. This shows I can
do it, so I’m very much looking forward to getting on
the pace from the very first practice session.”
Giulio Bernardelle – Technical Director, KONICA
MINOLTA Honda
“We need to make improvements and we are expecting some
new tires from Michelin. In this phase of the season, this
is the component of our technical package which could have
a quicker development to better support the riding needs of
our rider. Furthermore, arriving in Europe for the next few
races it should be easier for Michelin to fast the tires development.
We are focusing in particular on the front tyre. Ground conditions
and temperatures will be very different to the last few races
and for this reason I hope things will be better for us. Le
Mans is a technical circuit and one, which should be good
for our machine. Le Mans is also an old-style layout, with
few long straights so the rider can make the difference, so
we expect big things from Shinya.”
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