Press release:San Carlo Honda Gresini team rider Toni Elias picked up his best result of the 2009 season so far with sixth place in the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca today, replicating his position on the starting grid with a determined ride. Chasing the lead group over the opening laps, Elias moved up one position to fifth with a pass on local favourite Nicky Hayden on lap seven but was only able to hold his advantage for one lap before the American fought back.
Chasing Hayden for the rest of the race, Elias dropped off by two seconds at mid-distance but he fought hard in the second half of the race to close the gap to just four tenths by the final lap, eventually resisting the temptation of an attempt at a late pass in the final corner. It was a disappointing race for Alex de Angelis, who was unable to match his performance from practice but nevertheless picking up important points in eleventh.
Toni Elias (6th):
“It is not a bad result and we couldn’t have done much more than that because my race pace was exactly the same as in practice. I was able to go quicker for a lap or two in practice but generally we knew this was what we would be capable of today in terms of my own performance. To be honest I was hoping the front guys would be a little slower than that and allow us to challenge them but the pace was very quick so compliments to them. In general this weekend has been much better than previous races and so was the result, but we always want more.”
Alex De Angelis (11th):
“We made some changes to the bike for today but with the conditions being so much cooler for the warm-up this morning than they were for the race in the afternoon, we hadn’t really tested them. I was really struggling over the first few laps and the bike was moving around a lot but the problem eased in the second half of the race and I was able to push harder. I honestly thought I could run with Vermeulen today and that would have been a battle for eighth place so it’s a shame we suffered this setback. Anyway, at least we picked up a few points.”
Fausto Gresini - Team Manager:
“Toni had a good race because after the crash in the warm-up this morning I was quite worried but he didn’t let it faze him and he rode well. Potentially we could have been fighting for a better result here but sixth place is okay and this is the second race in succession that we have been fighting for a top six finish, so we have taken a step forward although we now need to take another one – in particular in finding a setting that allows Toni to run with the harder race tyre. Alex is obviously disappointed but he comes away from here with important experience and important points.”
1. Dani PEDROSA SPA HONDA 44'01.580
2. Valentino ROSSI ITA YAMAHA 44'01.924
3. Jorge LORENZO SPA YAMAHA 44'03.506
4. Casey STONER AUS DUCATI 44'14.012
5. Nicky HAYDEN USA DUCATI 44'23.243
6. Toni ELIAS SPA HONDA 44'23.621 7. Colin EDWARDS USA YAMAHA 44'31.781
8. Chris VERMEULEN AUS SUZUKI 44'34.437
9. Randy DE PUNIET FRA HONDA 44'41.905
10. Marco MELANDRI ITA KAWASAKI 44'49.608
11. Alex DE ANGELIS RSM HONDA 44'50.390 12. Niccolo CANEPA ITA DUCATI 45'20.111
