Zoom Alex de Angelis

After contesting two rounds in the space of just six days at Donington and Assen, Team San Carlo Honda Gresini have enjoyed a week off before taking their MotoGP World Championship challenge to the Sachsenring circuit near Dresden for the German Grand Prix this weekend.

Alex De Angelis heads to a circuit that has seen some of the best performances of his career. The San Marino rider boasts an incredible record of consecutive podiums at the Sachsenring in the small classes, having scored three second-places and three thirds out of six visits there between 2002 and 2007.

Shinya Nakano is himself a podium finisher at Sachsenring in the 250cc class in 2000 and in 2001 on a 500 (both third places). The Japanese star is targeting an improvement on his best result of the season so far, which he picked up with eighth place in the Dutch TT at Assen after lapping in fourth place during the early stages of the race.

#15 ALEX DE ANGELIS
“The German Grand Prix is definitely one of my favourites. I have a lot of affection for the Sachsenring circuit because I took my first pole there and I've been on the podium every year since 2002. The track is very technical, varied and without any long straights so it is important to have a good chassis set-up, more than a powerful engine. I'm expecting a lot from this race because despite some poor results in the last few races we've been in good form and produced some excellent performances in practice. 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. I feel really comfortable with the new Bridgestones and since the start of the season I've improved my race pace and my general feeling with the bike so I am confident because tyres play such a crucial role at this track.”

#56 SHINYA NAKANO
“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. 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!”