The Italian, whose 2007 frustrations are tipped to result in the five-times
MotoGP race winner signing for a rival factory next season, was just 0.064secs behind third placed
Dani Pedrosa, the top RC212V rider, at the end of day one in Germany.
"I'm happy with this first day - we've had a couple of good sessions," smiled Marco. "I'd like to say thank you to Honda for the new exhaust. We've taken a big step forward with it - the throttle connection is much more smooth and the feeling under braking has also improved. It is better on the entrance and exit of the corners and lap after lap I felt more and more comfortable. We're also in good shape with the tyres so I'm satisfied today."
"Thanks to the new material that Honda have brought for us here at Sachsenring we've been able to make a big step up in quality," confirmed team manager Fausto Gresini. "The team are doing everything they can to put our rider in a position to fight for the best possible result. Today Marco had a good day of practice and that gives us high hopes for the race."
Joining Melandri in the Gresini pits is stand-in Michel Fabrizio, replacing the injured
Toni Elias. The Italian finished 18th and just over two seconds behind fastest man
Casey Stoner.
"This is an important experience for me. The bike is fun to ride and from the morning to the afternoon I improved my lap time by eight tenths," said the DFX Honda WSBK rider. "Hopefully I can improve a lot more tomorrow and for the race. I'm happy because this is a really nice opportunity for me and I want to say thank you to Fausto and to Honda."
