Czech GP: Gresini Racing qualifying report

BEST QUALIFYING OF THE SEASON FOR FIFTH-PLACED DE ANGELIS AT BRNO, THIRD ROW FOR NAKANO

Qualifying practice for the Czech Republic Grand Prix took place in wet conditions at Brno and ended with a best ever qualifying position in MotoGP for Alex De Angelis.

The San Marino rider has been fast all weekend and he managed to consolidate his good form with a place on the second row of the grid for tomorrow's race.

It was also a positive session for Shinya Nakano, who set the eighth fastest time on board the new Honda RC212V.

Alex De Angelis (5th - 2'13''352): "I'm satisfied with this result -- I've been waiting for a while for a wet qualifying session so that I could get a better starting position. We worked really well today -- we were fast from free practice this morning and in the afternoon, with a few modifications to the bike, we made further improvements. That gave me confidence and I was able to show that even on a really wet track I can be very fast too. I'm also confident about the race because we've found the right feeling with the front. In any case it will be important to get a good start, to make sure I don't lose any positions and to have a good race.

Shinya Nakano (8th - 2'14''718): "Riding a new bike in conditions like today without enough time to test it properly isn't easy, but I was satisfied with the lap times we managed in the first session, when the track wasn't as slippery. Third row on the grid isn't bad but tomorrow it will be important to get a good start and to ride to the best of my ability. My objective is to have a good first race on this bike, improve on our best result so far this season and at the same time provide Honda and my team with lots of useful data."

Fausto Gresini - Team Manager: "Qualifying on such a wet track is difficult for everybody because from the middle of the session to the end it became so bad that it was so hard for anybody to improve. For the first time since the start of the season Alex has managed a second row start and shown that he can do well here at Brno. I'm disappointed for Shinya, who was forced to learn this bike in such difficult conditions. This is obviously his first experience of this version of the RC212V in these conditions so I think a third row position is a good start. I'm confident for tomorrow because we're in the right shape to have a good race with both riders in any conditions."

-credit: gresiniracing.com