Positive start for San Carlo Honda Gresini MotoGP duo in Motegi

Marco Simoncelli scored the fourth fastest time on Friday in the first day of practice at the Grand Prix of Japan. The Italian had a pace close to the duo who led the day's sessions, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, and improved his pace significantly from the morning to the afternoon. Still planning for some some set-up changes, "Super Sic" is convinced he is well prepared for the rest of the weekend.

 

Team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama also shined with his solid start at his home circuit. The Japanese rider ranked seventh of the day and demonstrated potential to improve even more. Although the forecast for tomorrow sho0ws a possibility of rain, the San Carlo Honda Gresini team remain confident despite the uncertainty over the weather. 

Marco Simoncelli:

"The day went quite well and we improved from the morning to the afternoon and established a pretty good feeling with the bike. We did some tests this afternoon to try and improve it under braking but after making some wrong choices with the front forks we know to go in the opposite direction tomorrow. We still have some problems with tyre wear so we will try to work on a solution to last us the whole race. At the moment I need to find three tenths to stay the pace with Pedrosa and Stoner so that is the goal tomorrow.”

Hiroshi Aoyama:
  "The start has gone really well, but for the moment there is still not a lot of grip in the rear. Tomorrow we will try to find solutions to improve this problem with a set-up better suited to give us more confidence. This is our goal and if we can get it, I'm convinced I can qualify in a good position for Sunday's race. In any case, I'm happy because I think we started on the right foot, which is really important, I want to have a good result at my home track."