Malaysia GP: Gresini Racing preview

FROM THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN TO THE HEAT OF MALAYSIA

The MotoGP World Championship paddock heads directly from Motegi, Japan, this week to the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, where Team San Carlo Honda Gresini will look to take another step closer to the front of the pack. An extra engineer provided by Honda gave the team the impetus to enjoy its best race of the season at Motegi, with Marco Simoncelli battling throughout the race for a top five finish with the vastly experienced Colin Edwards. Sepang is not traditionally one of the best for "Super Sic" but he is hopeful that his good form and further support from Honda can turn that around this weekend. His team-mate Marco Melandri is still struggling for confidence with his RC212V and his negative attitude certainly isn't helping matters, although the team and Honda will do everything they can to help him gain the results his talents merit before the end of the season. The intense heat of Sepang and the volatile weather conditions always make life difficult at a technical and fast circuit.

Marco Simoncelli " I was happy with my performance at Motegi and I might have been able to manage fifth place but Edwards was faster than me at the end of the race. Anyway, I was still pleased because we showed that we have improved again and I hope to continue in the same way from here. Now we go to a track that I have never particularly liked but where I have managed to have some good races. I will go into it with full confidence in my ability and the hope that things can be very different and much more positive than our time here in the winter tests."

Marco Melandri "Motegi went from bad to worse when I tried to follow Spies and made a mistake that cost me places even though I had a comfortable advantage over the guys behind. The problems we have are the same as the ones we've been struggling with since the start of the season with the electronics. I am hoping for something from Honda that can sort it out over the final four races. We are in slightly better shape traveling to Malaysia than we were for the preseason tests here because we have improved the suspension set-up but as I said before our big problem right now is with the electronics."

Fausto Gresini "At Motegi we saw Simoncelli take another important step forward. Honda provided us with another track engineer and that was crucial for the team to help the rider improve in the part of the race where he has been struggling. Now we go to a circuit Simoncelli doesn't particularly like, in fact it is probably the worst on the calendar for him also because of the high temperatures, but we have the confidence to look forward to a positive weekend. It is another important Grand Prix for Simoncelli and his crew to continue to grow together. They are working with determination and commitment and I am sure they will reap the fruit next season. Melandri is having yet another tough season and I am sorry for him. Our team has tried everything and we have the support of Honda to give him what we think he needs but he is not happy and I am disappointed with that because we think we have done a good job for him. It is always our objective to do well with both riders and to achieve that I think a certain level of positivity and confidence is required. I don't want to cause controversy but maybe that is what Melandri is missing right now. In the four races that remain we will continue to help him achieve the best possible result in the hope that he can achieve it and then the only thing left will be to wish him luck in his next adventure, which I hope will be a success."

-source: gresini racing