The British Grand Prix at Donington Park didn’t live up to expectations for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini, with both riders suffering unexpected chattering problems in the race despite a promising performance in dry practice and warm-up.
Shinya Nakano crossed the line in ninth place, a result he was satisfied with after making a good start and setting a decent pace for three quarters of the race. Unfortunately the Japanese rider started to suffer vibrations from the 20th lap.
Alex De Angelis also got a great start but the San Marino rider crashed on the second lap, re-entering the race and battling to take a single point at the end.
Shinya Nakano (9th):
“I’m happy with the race because even though I could only make ninth place I managed to get a good start and was able to run with the group immediately ahead of me for most of the race. I actually enjoyed myself on the bike and managed to set some lap times that were faster than we expected, but unfortunately from the 20th lap to the end of the race we started to suffer from chattering on the front end and I could no longer push as hard. Anyway, I’m satisfied with the feeling we found with the bike – the engine and the brakes worked really well and that’s something good to take to the next race.”
Alex De Angelis (15th):
“That was a really unlucky race for me because we’ve been fast all weekend in the dry here. I made a good start and quickly got up to speed but I started to notice a chattering problem from the end of the first lap and it was intensifying with every corner. At the end of the second lap it caused me to crash but I decided to get back on and try to finish what was always going to be a tough race for me. Despite the result I’m consoled by the fact it was just a tyre defect that slowed us today. It was the same kind of tyre I used on Friday, when I was really fast in free practice, and in the warm-up this morning so I guess it’s just one of those things.”
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