Marco Simoncelli put in a determined performance at the end of qualifying today to move up to ninth place on the grid and secure a third row start for tomorrow. “Super Sic” had a difficult start to the session and didn’t manage to improve until twenty minutes had already passed. The situation was reversed for Marco Melandri, who made a strong start but ran into difficulties in the closing stages. However, the Italian remains optimistic about the race tomorrow.
Marco Simoncelli (9th 1´ 34” 934): “We were having problems yesterday and they continued for the first twenty minutes of qualifying this afternoon. Then we went back to an old set-up because we had made some changes to the bike to suit Indianapolis. It was a step backwards in one way but with a few modifications we were able to set a good lap time. I am fairly happy right now because up until this morning we were not in good shape but now we have seen the light.”
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Marco Melandri (10th 1´ 35” 018): “That was actually a positive session. Unfortunately we made some changes at the end to the forks and they had a negative effect, which meant I couldn’t improve my lap time. However, my pace is pretty good and the target for tomorrow is to get a good start and set a strong pace. I am in better shape than in recent weeks and I hope we can have a decent race tomorrow.”
Fausto Gresini: “I honestly thought we could have had both riders higher up the grid. We’re not far off the top in terms of lap times but Simoncelli struggled tr the start of the session and Melandri was unable to capitalise on the good work he’s done so far. I really thought that a second row start was not beyond the realms of possibility for him today. The race is tomorrow and even though we know we won’t be racing at the very front we are hopeful of a good showing.”
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