MotoGP – Motegi Day 1 – Excellent day for Marco Melandri

Marco Melandri is very satisfied with his performance on the first day of testing for the Japanese GP, Honda's home race. The Team Gresini rider from Ravenna (who will be riding the official Ducati next year) set the third fastest time, 4 tenths behind Dani Pedrosa, also finding a good pace ahead of the race. Tomorrow he will try to qualify as best as possible in view of Sunday's race. The word is up to him.

“I am very satisfied with this first day. The bike has improved a lot in terms of engine output and throttle closure during braking thanks to new maps that arrived this morning. I'm happy because the bike has improved in handling. I am also satisfied with the choice of tires made. We did a great job with Bridgestone and tomorrow I hope to make another small step forward in terms of race pace. This is a particularly difficult track in terms of consumption. Today we found exceptional heat for this period. The forecast calls for thunderstorms for the weekend. I'm calm because we should be okay both in the dry and in the wet."