Marco Simoncelli produced his MotoGP performance yet today, confirming the potential he showed in warm-up when he was second fastest to take a top six finish at Phillip Island. The Italian battled throughout the first half of the race for a podium position before losing pace as his tyre performance dropped, eventually conceding a position to Ben Spies despite his best efforts to hang on to fifth. The Australian Grand Prix brings a tough three week trip to a positive conclusion for one side of the garage although for Marco Melandri the problems continued today as he again struggled to find a feeling with his bike.
Marco Simoncelli (6th) “It was a really nice race and I enjoyed it a lot so I am happy. I got a good start and moved into third place on the first lap and then stayed in the group with Rossi, Hayden and Spies. We had a great battle and it was really good fun. When Hayden passed me and went after Valentino I was left with Spies for the rest of the race but I managed to keep my pace up and make an attempt to pass him at the end, although unfortunately he was a little too fast for me. Anyway, as I said I am delighted with a really nice race.”
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Marco Melandri (9th) “This race was just the same as all the others this season, I struggled throughout and at the end I was passed by Espargaro. He passed me between the penultimate and final corners and he looked like he was out for a stroll, whereas I was fighting with the bike and couldn’t hold him off. I got a good start but over the first few laps my tyres felt like they were made of ice and by the time they had heated up I couldn’t make any progress.”
Fausto Gresini “I am happy with this fourth place and with the race performance, which I think is our best since the start of the season. This time he was able to stick with the best riders in the category and the only reason he couldn’t hold off Spies was because his tyre was spent. We are happy with his performance because once again we have seen the progress he has made over these three flyaway races. Marco is constantly improving and that is very important to us. We want it to continue over the final two races too as we look to prepare for next year. We are still working hard with Melandri but he is not happy. He is not getting on with this bike but this is the bike we have and we have to be professional and do our best to get results in the final two races. This situation makes me very unhappy.”
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