de Angelis: I've been a bit hot-headed.

MotoGP rookie Alex de Angelis is looking to convert practice pace into a strong race finish this weekend in Germany, after admitting that frustration has got the better of him in recent rounds.

After claiming a brilliant fourth place in the Italian Grand Prix, the San Marinese has fallen in all three races since.

De Angelis, Catalunya MotoGP Race 2008
De Angelis, Catalunya MotoGP Race 2008
© Gold and Goose

MotoGP rookie Alex de Angelis is looking to convert practice pace into a strong race finish this weekend in Germany, after admitting that frustration has got the better of him in recent rounds.

After claiming a brilliant fourth place in the Italian Grand Prix, the San Marinese has fallen in all three races since.

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.

The recent Assen round saw the former 125 and 250GP race winner fail to reach even the end of the opening lap, leading to a warning from San Carlo Honda Gresini team principal, Fausto Gresini.

"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. "Maybe it is time for a more careful approach."

After a weekend off to reflect, de Angelis appears to have taken his team principal's advice on board.

"I'm expecting a lot from this [Sachsenring] race because despite some poor results in the last few races we've been in good form and produced some excellent performances in practice," said Alex.

"Unfortunately up to now we've had a bit of bad luck and maybe in the last couple of races I've been a bit hot-headed - knowing I had good pace and trying too hard not to lose contact with the lead group," he explained.

"The only thing [de Angelis] has to do is take a calmer approach to the race itself," reiterated Gresini. "He has shown on several occasions he has the potential to do well so I hope the race at Assen can serve as experience."

Meanwhile, team-mate Shinya Nakano seems to need the opposite approach - the Japanese believing more aggression is the key to building on a best of eighth so far this season.

"At Assen I managed to improve on my best position of the season with eighth place, although to be honest it could have been better because I got a good start and held on to fourth place for a number of laps," said Nakano.

"In any case, I feel confident about the German Grand Prix because I showed I can be more aggressive during the first half of the race in Holland and I will be trying a similar approach here to try and break into the top six, which is still our objective.

"Sachsenring is well suited to my riding style because you spend a lot of time at full lean. I've had good results there in the past with both the 250 and the two-stroke 500 so I hope I can finally reproduce that on a MotoGP bike!" added Shinya, a podium finisher at Sachsenring in both 2000 (250) and 2001 (500).

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