Alex De Angelis and Shinya Nakano will start the Grand Prix of Catalunya from the fourth row of the grid tomorrow at Montmelò, having set the tenth and eleventh fastest times respectively in this afternoon’s qualifying practice.
An unfortunate crash just minutes from the end denied De Angelis of the chance to get the most out of his qualifying tyre whilst Nakano suffered unexpected problems. Despite that both Team San Carlo Honda Gresini are confident that they have good pace in race spec and confidence is high for another top performance in tomorrow’s race.
Alex De Angelis (10th - 1’42’’580): “Qualifying was a little unlucky for me today because I crashed on my out lap when I had just fitted a qualifying tyre, so I missed the chance to improve my time. The tyre was still not up to temperature so I probably should have stayed calmer and not pushed so hard. Luckily the crash wasn’t at high speed and I’ve avoided injury. Anyway my race pace is good and I’m sure I can have a good race tomorrow.”
Shinya Nakano (11th - 1’42’’643): “Considering the progress we made at Mugello, I was expecting a better result today. Here at Montmelò we haven’t showed the same kind of progression as a week ago in Italy. In any case the general feeling with the bike is good, although I am losing some important tenths in the final two corners. The positive thing looking to tomorrow is that there isn’t a big difference between my time on qualifiers and race tyres, which are really working well. I know it will be a tough race tomorrow because there are so many riders in just a couple of tenths but that means if we can stay in the fast group then a good result is within our grasp.”
Fausto Gresini – TEAM MANAGER: “Qualifying was difficult today – we suffered a little and it won’t be easy to start from the fourth row. Alex has found a good feeling on race tyres though and Shinya has improved his pace so I’m confident for tomorrow’s race.”
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