After the Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini from the weekend’s event at Misano, the main disappointment for San Carlo Honda Gresini squad manager Fausto Gresini was the harsh smash on the first lap for Alex de Angelis, which also took Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards out of the contest.

The incident was devasting for De Angelis at his home event, finishing a leg of good results which had sent him up to seventh place in the rankings. Meanwhiel, for Toni Elías, he enjoyed three top ten results in the prior three sessions, finishing over the line in sixth after briefly heading the event early.

Gresini commented, “The De Angelis crash surprised us quite a bit because it was his first DNF this year, but these things happen. It was a shame that it also ruined the race for two other riders, as it happened in the first lap. Toni had a good race, although we were expecting he could even go better than that. Unfortunately the bike was not quite at 100% and we couldn’t show our true potential.”

Honda Gresini will apply a fresh new line up next season with Marco Melandri arriving to his former team and Italian Marco Simoncelli joining him from the 250cc class. Gresini still commands 100% effort from his current competitors in the final events of 2009.

Quoting with more depth on the season so far and reviewing the final four events, Gresini adds, “We have improved since the beginning of the current championship and we still hope for good results in the final four Grands Prix of the season. We want to be in the top six every weekend with our two riders and we want to finish the season on a high.”

“The first podium of the year for Toni at Brno was brilliant and then Alex’s podium at Indianapolis was a great bonus. Those results have motivated us and we want to be fighting with the best riders in the championship every time we race. Alex in particular has improved significantly in this recent phase and we are capable of achieving more before the season concludes.”