MotoGP news

De Angelis gives Gresini hope despite crash

Gresini was welcomed to the Grand Prix of Qatar by a circuit that was in worse condition than they had left it just over a week ago, thanks largely to the sand that has blown onto the track surface since the test visit. Alex de Angelis suffered from front end chatter and suffered a crash when he was pushing for a better time. He went straight to the Clinica Mobile but had luckily escaped injury, other than a neck strain, and was able to return for the second practice. Indeed during the later session Alex was able to improve his best time by well over a second to finish sixth overall, while his team-mate Shinya Nakano also significantly improved his pace to conclude in 12th position.

"In the first session we tried two different sets of tyres: one softer and one harder," explained de Angelis. "With the first tyre I had a lot chattering so I was not that comfortable and I lost some grip which resulted in the crash. I took a heavy blow to the neck, but it was nothing too serious. In the second practice we really improved with respect to the earlier times, and got back towards the pace we had here in the test. That was down to hard work from from Bridgestone and everyone in the team, who have used the data we collected last week. We've also got some ideas for things to try tomorrow and I hope to go faster because we're already quite close to the top."

Shinya Nakano commented, "We started with the same setting as last week, but the condition of the track was a bit different, because of the sand on the asphalt. I didn't have enough feeling on the front so I wasn't pushing as hard as I wanted. The track conditions were better in the second session as it was cleaner so lap by lap I was improving my lap time. I tried some different tyres and I'll carry on tomorrow as we look to take the lap time down."

more news

• 28 Nov.
  • Photos: Thursday in Jerez
• 27 Nov.
  • Hayden wraps up Ducati test
  • Rossi sets second day pace
• 26 Nov.
  • Photos: Wednesday in Jerez
  • Stoner watches on as Hayden gets used to Ducati
  • Rossi happy with first day
  • Pedrosa sets pace on first day at Jerez
• 21 Nov.
  • "Valentino would have been an excellent F1 driver"
• 20 Nov.
  • Rossi doing well at Mugello in F2008
• 04 Nov.
  • FIAT extends Yamaha sponsorship
• 28 Oct.
  • Hayden debuts at Ducati
  • Dovizioso enjoys first day at Repsol Honda
• 27 Oct.
  • Photos: Monday in Valencia
  • Stoner fastest on first day of testing
• 26 Oct.
  • Photos: Sunday in Valencia
  • Stoner storms to Spanish win
• 25 Oct.
  • Photos: Saturday in Valencia
  • Stoner steals Valencia pole
  • Hayden stays top in final practice
• 24 Oct.
  • Hayden happy with perfect start
  • Rossi looks for improvement
  • Photos: Friday in Valencia
  • Hayden finished Friday on top
  • Hayden fastest in first practice
  • Gibernau confirmed for 2009
• 23 Oct.
  • West hopes to return to MotoGP one day
• 19 Oct.
  • Stoner steals runner-up spot
  • Rossi celebrates ninth win
  • Photos: Sunday at Sepang
  • Rossi storms to victory
• 18 Oct.
  • Photos: Saturday at Sepang
  • Pedrosa steals last gasp pole
  • West fastest in final practice
• 17 Oct.
  • Photos: Friday at Sepang
  • Rossi looking strong at Sepang
  • Stoner looking for more from tyres
  • Edwards fastest in second practice
  • Yamaha leads first practice in Malaysia
• 13 Oct.
  • Guintoli joins British Superbikes
• 05 Oct.
  • Photos: Sunday at Phillip Island

Homepage