British GP: Gresini Racing preview

MELANDRI E SIMONCELLI ALLA SCOPERTA DI SILVERSTONE

After a positive outing at Mugello Team San Carlo Honda Gresini head to unknown territory at Silverstone this week with more grit and determination than ever. Both Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli made a decisive step forward at their home circuit and are excited about taking advantage of it at a track that has not featured on the World Championship calendar for almost a quarter of a century. The last race here in 1986 was won by Australia's Wayne Gardner and for the past two decades the British Grand Prix has been held at Donington Park. In the meantime the Northamptonshire venue, which hosted the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix on the 13th May 1950, has been completely remodeled although its fast and flowing nature has remained. It is a venture into the unknown for the teams and riders, with the added question mark of the traditionally unpredictable weather during the British summer.

Marco Melandri "Silverstone will be an interesting race because it's a new track for everybody so we'll have to see what happens. Also, nobody ever knows what will happen with the weather in England. The last couple of races have been positive for me despite some difficulties during practice so I hope we can make a solid start on Friday and make progress throughout the weekend. I was really happy after the race at Mugello because I had a good fight with Stoner and De Puniet although if I'd have qualified two rows further forward the result would have been even better. Now the goal is to improve on that."

Marco Simoncelli "To be honest I really liked Donington so I'm disappointed we don't get to race there anymore although I am looking forward to going to Silverstone, a circuit I don't know, and seeing how we get on. I haven't even seen Silverstone on a videogame so it is completely new to me. I go there in good spirits though because we made a significant improvement at Mugello and I want to continue in the same way. I feel confident and eager to have a similar race to Mugello, except this time without mistakes and with a top five or six finish at the end of it -- that would be great! I was satisfied with my race in Italy but I know that my pace was fast enough to be in the group fighting for fourth place. We have taken a positive step forward and it is also good to see Honda winning again because it shows how well they are working in Japan and hopefully some of that will pass on to us."

Fausto Gresini "We go to Silverstone with our morale high after good performances from Melandri and Simoncelli at Mugello. Melandri struggled in practice but produced an extraordinary race to fight with Stoner and De Puniet. He finished fifth, which was an unthinkable result the previous night, and now I think he is in good shape to do well in practice too. Simoncelli made an important step forward too and if it wasn't for a small mistake at the start of the race he could have been battling for fourth place. It was a positive weekend in Italy and that gives us confidence going to Silverstone, which is a new track for everybody. There is obviously still a long way to go and we have to keep working with determination to give San Carlo and our other partners the satisfaction they deserve in return for the infinite faith they are putting in us. I have good memories from Silverstone having finished third there myself back in 1984. I hope that can be a good omen for the team and our riders and I'm looking forward to seeing how the track has changed since back then."

-source: gresini racing