British GP: Gresini Racing Friday report

POSITIVE START FOR TEAM SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI PAIR Silverstone welcomed the return of the MotoGP World Championship after an absence of over two decades today, with Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli both enjoying a positive first practice ...

POSITIVE START FOR TEAM SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI PAIR

Silverstone welcomed the return of the MotoGP World Championship after an absence of over two decades today, with Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli both enjoying a positive first practice session. The pair were on the pace throughout, setting the seventh and ninth fastest times overall with plenty of room for further improvement. Unfortunately a rain shower shortly before the end of the session brought it to an early conclusion. It was an unfortunate but predictable shift in the conditions after yesterday's warm sunshine, with the unpredictability of the weather always a feature on these shores regardless of the circuit.

Marco Melandri (7th 2'07"588): "The track is incredible to ride and really good fun -- it's just a shame there are a few too many bumps but that's the same for everybody. I hope that is something they can look at in the future though because the track really is wonderful. We have done a good job, starting out with the base from Mugello and then gradually adapting the suspension to the demands of this track. At the end I went out on a hard rear tyre and the feeling was good but it started to rain and I had to come back in. I'm really confident and looking forward to tomorrow."

Marco Simoncelli (9th 2'07"951): "That was quite good -- it was just a shame about the rain because it brought and early end to the session. I felt I could have gone a little faster at the end, especially just at the moment it started to rain because I was behind Dovizioso and getting a good idea of the racing line, but overall I feel happy and confident. The track is great, it's just a shame there are a couple of bumps but it is down to us to work on adapting the setting to cope with them. We also want to alter the gear setting because it is too long at the moment."

Fausto Gresini: "For a first session it went well, we're working on similar lines with the best out there. It has been a positive day but there are definitely areas to improve. The only shame was the weather, which denied us the opportunity to verify the last couple of changes. Hopefully we can continue to work well tomorrow and secure some good grid positions for Sunday, with both riders up near the front."?