MotoGP
Catalunyan GP: Gresini Racing qualifying report
THIRD AND FIFTH ROW STARTS FOR SIMONCELLI AND MELANDRI TOMORROW It was another day of unbearably hot weather at Montmeló today, where ambient temperatures reached 35°C, with 50°C on track. After a slightly cooler morning session, when he was ...
Published: Jul 4, 2010, 2:39 PM
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THIRD AND FIFTH ROW STARTS FOR SIMONCELLI AND MELANDRI TOMORROW
It was another day of unbearably hot weather at Montmeló today, where ambient temperatures reached 35°C, with 50°C on track. After a slightly cooler morning session, when he was close to the pace of the top riders, in the afternoon Marco Simoncelli struggled over the early laps on a hard tyre but improved his pace significantly on the softer compound. For Marco Melandri it was a battle just to make it through the session, as the injured Italian limits himself to recovering confidence with the bike and building his fitness ahead of future races.
Marco Simoncelli (8th 1' 42" 994) "I am quite happy because I am convinced that this new chassis and forks are a step in the right direction. The third row is okay although maybe we could have done better so we'll try to improve our position in the race. I was struggling a little until we put the soft tyre on -- I was running well this morning in the cooler conditions but the temperature was much hotter in the afternoon and I couldn't maintain that pace. I felt better as soon as we put the soft one on so it was a shame we ran out of time to try a second one because I think I could have taken another step forward. Now we have to decide which tyre to use tomorrow."
Marco Melandri (14th 1' 43" 261) "Tomorrow will be a tough race considering how much I struggled yesterday compared to today. I was struggling for breath but I think this race for me is more like a training exercise and if I can stay on the bike for the whole distance it will give me a bit of confidence. The heat doesn't help but once we get into a rhythm I think we can make it to the end."
Fausto Gresini "This afternoon was more difficult than this morning but Simoncelli is in a competitive position. This morning his pace was similar to the top guys so hopefully tomorrow he can have a good race. It obviously won't be an easy race because of the heat but this is another learning experience for him. I can't credit Melandri highly enough for the effort he is making -- it is a miracle that he is on the track so I have to thank him for his dedication and any result will be good for us tomorrow. We all really admire him, we just have to be patient and wait for him to be competitive again in the upcoming races."
-source: gresini racing
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