TT Assen: Gresini Racing Thursday report

SATISFACTORY FIRST DAY FOR TEAM SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI AT ASSEN It was an encouraging first day for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini in Holland today as Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri set the ninth and tenth fastest times respectively but with ...

SATISFACTORY FIRST DAY FOR TEAM SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI AT ASSEN

It was an encouraging first day for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini in Holland today as Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri set the ninth and tenth fastest times respectively but with just a few tenths between them and third place. It was a good start for "Super Sic", who continued with his recent progress and is confident of more tomorrow as he looks to improve the feeling with his Honda RC212V around certain sections of the track. Marco Melandri is in equally high spirits, building on the confidence he found with his bike at Silverstone by starting out on the right foot here and showing plenty of promise ahead of tomorrow's qualifying practice.

Marco Simoncelli (9th 1' 36" 002): "I am pretty happy because we have picked up where we left off at Silverstone. We are pretty close to the front guys and I have got a good feeling with the bike. Naturally we still have a lot of work to do to take another step forward but for the moment I am satisfied. We still need to find some more confidence with the front and get a better balance for the bike in general, with more rear traction when I open the throttle. I like the change they made to the track a lot -- the corner is really fast now and to be honest I still have to get to grips with it and find the fastest way through it."

Marco Melandri (10th 1' 36" 269): "It was a good session -- I was hoping to go faster in the end but we were trying a front tyre I didn't like so much, unfortunately it was too late to change it. Anyway, we have good data to work from tomorrow so I'm feeling really optimistic. The track is tight and it is difficult to overtake so we have to make sure we do a good job tomorrow and secure a good position on the grid. The changes they made to the track make it more flowing and it would suit our bike if they changed the first three corners too, although I don't think that's possible!"

Fausto Gresini "I consider that to be a positive first session. We have worked on the set-up of the bikes and still have a few changes we can make to improve performance in braking and through the corners. Both our riders have worked well today and we're happy. We obviously still have work to do but I am positive because I can see that we're not far off the front."