Good start for Gresini pair at Sachsenring

On the first day of his second visit to Sachsenring as a MotoGP rider Alex de Angelis made a good top five start on Friday afternoon, taking his satellite Honda RC212V machine round the tight German track in 1’23.282, just half a second off Casey Stoner’s timesheet-topping day one pace.

In tricky conditions at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, as a wet track dried during the MotoGP FP1 outing, De Angelis dealt well with the task at hand.

“I’m pleased with our performance and the way we adapted,” De Angelis commented. “I waited until I saw a few other riders on slicks before changing (to a dry set-up) because we didn’t want to risk anything and when we went back out I was able to hold my position near the top. We had a bit of a problem with the bike not turning in the tight corners, which is the thing you really need here, but we improved that.”

The man from San Marino continued, “Now the main issue is the rear spinning up and we need to sort that because every tenth you lose around this circuit is crucial. I was the fastest in T3, the same as last year I think. I have always said my strong point as a rider is in fast corners and this is one of the fastest and most technical sections on the calendar. It is helping me make up some time but to be honest we still don’t have the package I need to be fast and consistent around the rest of the circuit.”

His under the weather colleague Toni Elías was close behind him in on the timesheet in seventh place and reviewed the afternoon saying, “I’m struggling a little bit here with a stomach problem and some ‘flu symptoms – but don’t worry, it’s not swine ‘flu! It was quite a good session today because we were able to get a feel for the conditions in the wet and then work on the bike in the dry. We were pretty good in both conditions and even though I finished up in seventh place the gap to the top is only 0.5 seconds and with the way I’m feeling today that is not much. I have to be happy with the way things have started here.”