De Angelis takes encouraging eighthDespite a difficult start to the race, Team San Carlo Honda Gresini's riders were two of the star performances of a dramatic Czech Republic Grand Prix that took place today at Brno.
Shinya Nakano, making his first appearance on
the Honda RC212V, put together an impressive charge through the field in the second half of the race to finish just short of the podium in fourth place.
Despite only having limited track time to set the bike up, the Japanese rider established a good feeling with the new machine, finishing today's race as the top Honda with his best result of the season.
Alex De Angelis once again showed his great potential with an aggressive and pacy performance, making up positions after a bad start to finish eighth.
Shinya Nakano (4th):
“We took another step forward with the new bike today although I have to say that it has not been easy to get this result. We came to Brno without any test data but the team did a great job with the set-up. I want to thank Honda and Team Gresini for giving me the chance to ride this bike, which represents a great opportunity for me to improve on the results we've managed so far. I'm just disappointed that I lost positions at the start because I made contact with another rider but at the same time satisfied to have recovered and finished the race in fourth – a result I can be pleased with.”
Alex De Angelis (8th):
“Even I finished the race as the best of the RC212V satellite riders, today's result isn't too satisfying because we were expecting to finish in the top six. We weren't too far off that target but this wasn't the race we'd imagined.
Unfortunately after the first lap, when I lost several positions, I made several passes but lost the position to other riders who were faster down the straights. Tomorrow we'll make the most of the test here at Brno to continue to improve ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix, which is of special importance to me.”
Fausto Gresini - Team Manager:
“That was a good race for both our riders. Shinya showed that he could step up the pace on the new bike and I'm sure this fourth place will be a much-needed boost to his confidence. Now we have more time available to us to get to know this bike better, with the objective of making further improvements on what has been an excellent debut. I want to congratulate Alex because he rode well today – aggressive and fast – finishing as the best of the RC212V satellite riders.”
Gresini Honda
