Gresini gives his view

Fausto Gresini has given an honest assessment of his team’s 2009 season, and is positive about the forthcoming campaign with an all-Italian rider line-up of rookie Marco Simoncelli and the experienced Marco Melandri.

Looking back over the season just finished, Gresini analysed the 7th and 8th places which were achieved in the final standings by Toni Elías and Alex de Angelis respectively. The Italian was pleased with how his team had performed in the latter half of the season, with a podium for Elías at Brno and De Angelis at Indianapolis making for a strong finish.

“I must say we had a very difficult first part of the Championship, with the second half decidedly better,” said the team boss. “We achieved two podiums, which is not many but it is important to our team. In the end, we achieved our goals, with 7th and 8th position for our riders, and a good placement for the team (fifth).”

“Without doubt it has not been an easy campaign, but MotoGP is a competitive category and we have done a good job, although we’re not content and in the future we want to do better.”

The combination of Simoncelli and Melandri – who was MotoGP World Championship runner-up with the team in 2005 – is one which Gresini is convinced will help the team develop further.

“We are already thinking about 2010. We cannot set ourselves strict targets because then it is difficult to keep promises,” said Gresini. “We want to do very well, with a rookie who is very fast in Simoncelli and a skilled rider in Melandri, who I know well. In the next Championship we can do very well, and are convinced Honda will make a more competitive bike. Obviously we have to work hard, but we always do that. We are ready and will face 2010 with a calm outlook.”