MotoGP Phillip Island, Free Practice: Marco Simoncelli “Positive day despite the two crashes”

Marco Simoncelli is satisfied with the first day of testing for the Australian Grand Prix, the sixteenth stage of the 2011 world championship. The Team Gresini rider actually finished with the third fastest time and a very positive race pace. The only regret is two slips, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

“I made those two slips at turn number ten which fortunately were very, very “ine” and both the bike and I came out unscathed – said Marco Simoncelli – The track is beautiful, certainly my favourite, but the track is quite treacherous on which it is easy to make mistakes due to the numerous potholes. It takes a moment to make a mistake and therefore you will always have to stay super concentrated. But I'm happy because this morning I immediately set fast and this afternoon I also improved, especially in terms of pace. Now we have to try to find, with some small interventions, more grip on the rear and greater confidence and confidence on the front which in any case are already decent. The two crashes were different because this morning I slipped on the front while in the afternoon I wasn't able to control the rear, but I understood why and I didn't lose confidence at all, managing to lap fast once I got back on track. I'm calm and serene and I hope to improve further tomorrow and be able to get closer to Stoner also in terms of the race."

His team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama also did well and immediately got on well with the MotoGP at Phillip Island
“It was a very positive start because this afternoon I managed to further improve on this morning's time – added Hiroshi Aoyama – All this is very important for us after the somewhat disappointing performance in Motegi in our home Grand Prix. Today's conditions were good but in any case it wasn't easy but we did everything we could to have a good session and we succeeded. There are some things we need to improve but we are on the right track. We hope that tomorrow's weather conditions will be similar to today's and we will try to gain a good position on the starting grid for Sunday's race.”