British GP: Gresini Racing race notes

MELANDRI AND ELIAS STRUGGLE THROUGH THE DONINGTON RAIN

The rain that has hindered the British GP throughout practice returned on race day to make conditions extra tough for the eighth round of the championship.

Team Honda Gresini riders Marco Melandri and Toni Elias battled against the slippery Donington Park circuit, which became even more difficult to negotiate as the track dried slightly over the course of the 30-lap race. The pair started from the 3rd and 4th rows respectively and tried their best to make up positions but they struggled for grip at the start of the race in the wet and only began to get a comfortable feeling from their bikes as the track dried - Elias setting the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1'41"428.

MARCO MELANDRI (10th in the race, 6th in the championship on 81 points): "We tried a few set-up modifications in the warm-up and improved the feeling on the front but couldn't do the same on the rear. When the track was really wet I struggled because the bike was sliding a lot. Then as it started to dry out the situation improved because the bike felt more balanced. The lap times show that because I went from doing a 1'46.4 to a 1'41.4 on the last lap."

TONI ELIAS (12th in the race, 10th in the championship on 49 points): "It's been a difficult weekend and it hasn't ended as we wanted. I struggled in the race because I couldn't get the tyre up to temperature and find grip. I had a problem in braking and ran wide a few times, which made me lose time and this meant I couldn't recover positions as I wanted. When the track began to dry I was able to set the fastest lap of the race. The positive thing is that we've gathered a lot of information in the wet which we'll be able to use together with Bridgestone and try to solve some of the problems we've had this weekend."

-credit: gresiniracing