Gresini unhappy with de Angelis.

San Carlo Honda Gresini team principal, Fausto Gresini, has told MotoGP rookie Alex de Angelis to be 'more careful' after the San Marinese suffered his third fall in as many starts during the Dutch TT at Assen.

After claiming a heroic fourth place in the Italian Grand Prix, de Angelis failed to finish at Catalunya - when he collided with Loris Capirossi - then fell and remounted on his way to 15th at Donington Park last weekend.

But Saturday's Assen event saw the former 125 and 250cc race winner fail to reach even the end of the opening lap.

"I'm not happy about Alex's result - it is never good to crash on the first lap, especially after crashes at Barcelona and Donington," said Gresini. "He always shows great potential in practice but hasn't been able to carry it through to the races recently, so maybe it is time for a more careful approach."

de Angelis was at least in good company at Assen - seven time world champion Valentino Rossi having also crashed out on the opening lap.

"I started quite well but Valentino and de Puniet crashed in front of me coming onto the back straight and I had to slam the brakes on, allowing a couple of riders past," recalled. Alex. "In the next corner I'd barely opened the throttle when the bike lost grip and threw me into the air. It was probably the tyre that wasn't up to temperature and I just lost control, the rear came around and I crashed. Luckily I'm not hurt and I'm looking forward to the next race."

But it wasn't all bad news for the satellite Honda team, with Shinya Nakano claiming a season's best eighth, having been as high as fourth in the opening laps.

"I've finished ninth for the last three races and our objective today was to improve on that!" smiled the Japanese. "Eighth place isn't a fantastic result but the most positive thing about this race was the start. I got away really well and managed to get straight into a good pace. Unfortunately after a few laps my rhythm dropped off and I lost positions, from fourth back to seventh. I would have liked to finish higher but I'm still happy because eighth isn't bad and I think we've taken a step forward today."

"I am satisfied with Shinya's race today, he showed some improvement with a very determined start and in general he did a good job," said Gresini.