The short summer break came to an abrupt end for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini today as the MotoGP engines fired up again at Brno. Marco Simoncelli made a somewhat unfortunate return to action with an innocuous crash in the early stages that ruined virtually half of the session for him. The Italian made constant improvements once he returned to the track before a light rain shower in the final seven minutes effectively brought the session to a premature conclusion. Marco Melandri struggled to find a comfortable set-up for his Honda RC212V during the available time as he looks to maximise his riding strengths by optimising the bike´s corner speed. The former 250cc World Champion is hopeful of finding a solution tomorrow.
Marco Simoncelli (8th 1´58"840): “Apart from the crash I´m happy. I started out well but lost the front when I hit a bump and I crashed. Maybe after a few days´ holiday I was just pushing too hard. When I went back out things went well and I set a 1´ 58"840 on my own in the only run we had time for before it started raining. The bike still doesn´t feel great but I´m confident for tomorrow. The rain wasn´t heavy but there was no point staying out there and risking another crash. I feel better with the electronics than I did at Laguna. I spent time working on them with the team over the break and I think we´re already noticing the benefit.”
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Marco Melandri (14th 1´59"510): “We knew this would be a tough session for us because we had made some quite radical changes to the bike. I expected to struggle today but not this much. Hopefully we can make sense of the data we´ve gathered tonight and come up with an effective solution. We need to work on the suspension to rediscover my feeling and get back on the pace. My problem with this bike has always been corner speed, which is my strong point as a rider and something we´re currently unable to take advantage of but I´m confident we can find a solution tomorrow.”
Fausto Gresini: “It was a shame about Simoncelli´s crash because he had started well, although he got straight back on the pace when he returned to the track. The only setback was the fact he lost half of the session, which was the most negative aspect of the day. We will try and make up for lost time tomorrow. Melandri is still having problems with the traction control system, which is making it hard for him to ride the bike as he likes. We´re working on the set-up and I´m sure that when we find it the results won´t be far behind.”
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