MotoGP news

Gresini aiming for improvement

The Honda Gresini team is targeting an improved performance at Le Mans this weekend after a total of just thirty points was amassed by its two riders from the first three rounds of the season. After two rain affected events in Qatar and Japan plus an off-the-pace weekend in Spain, however, the squad is looking for an up in results as MotoGP heads to France.

"I was very disappointed with the level of our performance at Jerez but we cannot turn back the clock and we simply have to take whatever positives we can out of the situation," said Spain's Toni Elias. "The truth is that I think we are making progress overall and, whilst we still may not be able to challenge where we want to be at Le Mans, the important thing will be to continue getting closer. Le Mans is a circuit I like and it suits my style because there is a lot of hard braking, but the reality is that, if we don't find a good balance for the bike, then it doesn't matter how much I like it!"

De Angelis started the season in a positive manner, scoring sixth place in Qatar's night race

Team-mate Alex de Angelis has also suffered this year, with the exception of Round 1, which remains as a ray of hope for the time being. "It has been a very difficult couple of weeks for me for a variety of reasons," said the San Marinese. "After making a great start to the season, with sixth place in Qatar, we struggled for setup at Motegi and Jerez and I've had a couple of crashes, which are never helpful. Nevertheless, I don't feel like we are entirely to blame and I have absolute faith in myself and my team that we can get back to the pace we know we are capable of."

"Le Mans has traditionally been a good circuit for our bikes," added team manager Fausto Gresini. "However, so far this season the weak points of our machines are in different areas and we know we have a lot of work to do to make sure we are competitive; we took some small steps forward at Jerez but I was very dissatisfied after the race and I am looking for much more this weekend.

"We will be working hard from the moment the red light goes out on Friday afternoon, because we need to make the most of every second - the extra time in the practice sessions should help us. Hopefully the weather will be on our side too because we could do with an incident-free, crash-free weekend if possible!"

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