Marco Melandri’s fall on Friday affected his performance on the second day of qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix, with the Fortuna Honda Rider having to settle for 15th place on the grid. The Italian opted to focus his attention on tyre selection on Saturday and was 12th fastest in the morning session. He went 0.8 seconds fastest in the afternoon, but still finished down in 15th. Forecasts are predicting rain on Sunday and that could help the Italian recover some places in the race itself. Melandri’s team-mate Toni Elias put in a solid showing and claimed 11th spot on the grid. The Spaniard will now hope to make a fast start tomorrow and latch on to the lead group.
Toni Elias (11th, 1’37”245):”I am not satisfied with my position on the grid, although we did a good job. We are improving every day and now we must get the result to confirm it. I am feeling good on the bike and hope to make a good start tomorrow and make up positions as quickly as possible. I like this circuit and am confident of having a good race tomorrow.”
Marco Melandri (15th, 1’37”582):”Physically I am improving. The knee is still hurting me and is causing pain in the left-hand corners which is preventing me from lapping faster. The bike is working well and the team is doing a good job. We have tried various different tyres and I hope my feeling with the bike improves even more tomorrow.”
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