Team San Carlo Honda Gresini is looking forward to receiving a much-needed shot in the arm for its
MotoGP ambitions from HRC as this weekend's French Grand Prix kicks off a hectic run of races leading into the height of summer.
After the long-haul trip to Shanghai, the MotoGP series returns to Europe for the busiest period of the 2008 season, with quick-fire races in Italy, Catalunya, Britain and Holland all following hot on the heels of the trip to Le Mans, and marking a crucial seven-week period, not only for the destiny of the championship, but also for those scrapping a little further down the field.
For the Gresini team, the busy schedule is an opportunity to make up points and positions after a disappointing start to the campaign, with both Alex De Angelis and
Shinya Nakano hoping to make up for another frustrating event last time out. Both showed excellent pace throughout the early part of the weekend, only for things to deviate from plan on race day
Le Mans is quite favourable for our bike; the straights are not long so we should be able to hold our own," team owner Fausto Gresini confirmed, "Shinya showed great progress in Shanghai, setting lap times that were up there with the best and putting together a good rhythm on race tyres in practice. That improvement is important for everybody, even though the result in the race was below our expectations.
"For Alex, the situation is a little more difficult at the moment after so many crashes, he's focusing on not making mistakes and trying to understand the bike better. He is learning quickly, and is a fast rider - as he has shown many times - so I'm sure that, before long, we'll see him chasing down the lead guys.
The team will also be aided by the promise of new parts from HRC. Both Honda RC212Vs will be fitted with new clutches this weekend, underlining the company's support for its satellite teams, while
Bridgestone will also have more suitable rubber for the two riders.
