Delight for Nakano Down Under, disappointment for De Angelis

Strong form in pre-season testing at Phillip Island was replicated by Shinya Nakano in Sunday´s Australian MotoGP round, as the Japanese rider took the chequered flag in fifth. San Carlo Honda Gresini teammate Alex de Angelis, meanwhile, suffered an early crash for his fifth DNF of the year.

Shinya Nakano - Fifth

`Despite our problems in practice the race went well today – I got a good start and managed to improve on my pace from practice so I´m really satisfied. After the warm-up we decided on a medium compound tyre, which proved to be the right choice because the bike felt really balanced and I was able to stick with a fast group of riders from the start. Having chosen a softer compound I obviously didn´t want to risk too much in the early stages because I needed to save some rubber for the end and on the final five laps I really pushed hard, taking two riders and crossing the line in fifth. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a race like this so today I´m happy I was able to show our true potential and I´d like to thank the team for that.´

Alex de Angelis - DNF

`I´m really disappointed with today because I finally managed to get a good start and I´d made up some positions. After the first couple of corners I was following De Puniet but he made a mistake under braking and I was too close behind him to avoid him. Unfortunately I came out worse and I'm disappointed because today was a good opportunity for us to show our potential. I´m sorry for the whole team because they´ve all worked so well here, making constant improvements in every session.´