MotoGP news

Melandri and Elias struggle through rain

The rain that has hindered the British GP throughout practice returned on race day to make conditions extra tough for the eighth round of the championship. Team Honda Gresini riders Marco Melandri and Toni Elias battled against the slippery Donington Park circuit, which became even more difficult to negotiate as the track dried slightly over the course of the 30-lap race. 

"We tried a few set-up modifications in the warm-up and improved the feeling on the front but couldn't do the same on the rear," said Melandri. "When the track was really wet I struggled because the bike was sliding a lot. Then as it started to dry out the
situation improved because the bike felt more balanced. The lap times show that because I went from doing a 1'46.4 to a 1'41.4 on the last lap." 

Elias commented, "It's been a difficult weekend and it hasn't ended as we wanted. I struggled in the race because I couldn't get the tyre up to temperature and find grip. I had a problem in braking and ran wide a few times, which made me lose time and this meant I couldn't recover positions as I wanted. When the track began to dry I was able to set the fastest lap of the race. The positive thing is that we've gathered a lot of information in the wet which we'll be able to use together with Bridgestone and try to solve some of the problems we've had this weekend."

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