Malaysia GP: Gresini Racing qualifying report

FOURTH ROW START FOR TEAM SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI PAIR

The heat continued to rise on the second day of action at Sepang, reaching 34C ambient and 54C on track. Both Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli struggled to make the most of a soft tyre at the end of the session, dropping to tenth and eleventh place on the grid despite making a strong start to the session. However, both are confident with their race setting and are hoping tomorrow's 4pm start doesn't coincide with the traditional afternoon rain storm here.

Marco Melandri (10th 2'02"624) "I think we did a good job with the race setting this afternoon but we always struggle on a soft tyre and the problems weren't as bad as usual this afternoon, so I am confident for tomorrow. I still think we can make improvements to our race setting and I feel much more optimistic about the race than I have been doing recently. The race will be tough on the tyres and the riders because it is hard to breathe after three laps. We'll also have to keep an eye on the weather because the rain is always a threat here."

Marco Simoncelli (11th 2' 02" 690) "I am a little bit disappointed today because after practice this morning I thought I was capable of much more and the afternoon session started really well. Unfortunately when we started to work with the softer tyre I lost a little feeling with the bike and couldn't improve my lap time. That's a shame but the positive thing is that in race trim we are quite fast. Starting from the fourth row won't make it easy tomorrow but I am confident of a good performance."

Fausto Gresini "Today wasn't easy and as the riders said we didn't get the most out of the softer tyre, which our rivals were able to improve their times on. That has compromised the starting positions but fortunately both Melandri and Simoncelli have good race pace. Their positions are not great so it will be important to make a good start and try to be consistent. It will be a difficult Grand Prix for everybody because of the heat."

-source: gresini racing