M2: Malaysia GP: Gresini Racing Friday report

MIXED WEATHER CONDITIONS HAMPER PRACTICE AT SEPANG

Drops of rain and leaden skies promised downpours at Sepang today, practically bringing the first day's practice to a halt. However Toni Elias needed just nine laps to understand how competitive his bike would be at the Malaysian track. Confident of making further progress tomorrow, he took the team's advice and remained in the box when the conditions looked particularly menacing in order to avoid any risk whatsoever. Tomorrow he will continue to work on his set-up as he looks for a good grid spot for Sunday's race.

Toni Elias (3rd 2' 09" 835): "We only did a few laps but we were still able to discover that we had a good pace. When the weather changed significantly and a few raindrops appeared, we preferred to stay in the garage and not take any risks by going out onto track. We could perhaps have improved the laptime, but that wasn't important today. Our objective remains the same as every race, trying to qualify well so we're in the best place possible to be challenging right to the end. That's our mentality anyway and though winning the championship is our main objective it would be the same if we were to do it in Australia or Estoril."

Vladimir Ivanov (33rd 2' 12" 827): "I don't feel too bad at the Malaysian track, even though i still haven't got to the level I was at before the crash. Tomorrow i hope to improve further and qualify in a good position."

Fausto Gresini "The weather conditions today meant we didn't do tooany laps, but in the few Toni did we have seen that he is competitive. Tomorrow we will look to refine the set-up so we can get a good grid position. To have a good race here in Sepang is important, and Elias will try to do his best as he always does."

-source: gresini racing