Team San Carlo Honda Gresini’s two riders put in an intensive shift on the opening day of free practice at the Misano Adriatico circuit today, with Marco Melandri finally reaping some of the fruit of all his recent hard work. The Italian finished the opening session of a Grand Prix with a smile on his face for the first time since switching to the new electronics package, whilst his team-mate Marco Simoncelli is looking for a more positive day tomorrow after running into problems.
Marco Melandri (9th 1´ 36” 126): “Finally we have started out with a good session without major problems. We managed to set a consistent pace and gradually improve throughout the session so now it’s just a case of picking our tyre for the race and working a little more on the engine management. However, we’ve found a good base point and I am satisfied. It will be important to have a good qualifying session tomorrow.”
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Marco Simoncelli (13th 1´ 36” 533): “That was a tough and demanding session, we tried a lot of things. Some things worked well and some not so well and at the end of the session I tried a different tyre, which was quite interesting. I am a little down on the time sheets but confident that I can improve tomorrow and close the gap to the top, although maybe not Pedrosa. We have some ideas about what to change and we’ll experiment tomorrow. “
Fausto Gresini: “This Grand Prix is within walking distance from our racing headquarters and it is always very special for us. It is never easy to start out on the right foot in the first session but I am confident that our riders are on the right path to make up positions tomorrow. Melandri is in better shape and also Simoncelli is not too far off the better laps times, apart from Pedrosa who set an extraordinary time. Obviously it won’t be easy and even though we might not be going out to win this one I would like to see positive performances from both riders.”
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