“I have to say I'm happy”After finishing second in his last race appearance two weeks ago at Sepang, Marco Melandri carried his good form into the first day of practice at the Grand Prix of Valencia - the final round of the 2007 season.
After finishing second in
the morning free practice, Melandri ended the day fourth overall - 0.351 seconds behind pacesetter Casey Stoner - giving him confidence for another podium appearance in Sunday's race. Marco started from a good base setting and instantly found a good feeling with the circuit, which seems to suit the characteristics of his Honda RC212V well.
It was a more difficult start to the weekend for his team-mate Toni Elias, who is highly motivated for a top race in his home Grand Prix. The Spaniard will continue working with the team on the setting of his bike tomorrow to try and prepare himself as well as possible for the season's finale.
MARCO MELANDRI (4th, 1'33"319):
"I have to say I'm happy with today because we've started out on the right foot. The bike is really manageable and has adapted well to this track. Today we tried a few different tyre combinations and tried to work out which was the most suitable. It's a difficult decision because the track temperature varies a lot, around 12 degrees, from the morning to the afternoon. I'm confident because we've found a good base to start from. Now we have to work on the suspension and refine the setting to try and find a little more pace."
TONI ELIAS (15th, 1'34.218):
"I'm not happy with this result but it's only the first day but I'm still confident.
We have to keep working on the setting of the bike and the tyre choice. It is a strange circuit and it's not easy to find the right setting but we're in Spain, at my home race, and I want to end the season with a good result."
FAUSTO GRESINI:
"Marco has worked really well with the team and tested a variety of settings and tyre combinations. We're happy to be running with the top three on race tyres because Guintoli's lap was on a qualifier. Marco has taken a good step forward and we'll keep working tomorrow. Toni has struggled a bit more with the set up of the bike but we are confident that tomorrow he can improve".
Gresini Honda
