Zoom Toni Elias

First day of work for the Alice Team riders, Toni Elias and Sylvain Guintoli, on the Misano Adriatico circuit for the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix.

Both riders have encountered some difficulties with the set up of their Ducati Desmosedici GP8 Sat on this hot track.

During the afternoon session there were forty-five degrees on the ground and thirty-two in the air. Tomorrow morning the Hispanic-French duo will have another free practice hour at their disposal to improve their bike's set up to be able to conquer a satisfying position for Sunday's starting grid.

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Alice Team Technical Director
“Not an easy day for us but we sort of expect it. Surely this isn't a favourable track for the technical package at our disposal and we will have a lot of work to do to result competitive during the race. Both Toni and Sylvain have improved a lot compared this morning and we believe they can do another big step forward tomorrow morning, during the last free practice, to qualify in a good position in the afternoon qualifying session.”

Toni Elias – Alice Team rider (14th best lap time in 1'36.425 – Total laps 50)
“We knew that we would have found some difficulties on this track but for this reason we will not surely give up. We have ridden for many laps looking for the best compromise possible for this technical track. We need to have a lot of patience. Already this afternoon we made it to take a good step forward, but not sufficient to conquer a satisfying final position.”

Sylvain Guintoli – Alice Team rider (15th best lap time in 1'36.619 – Total laps 53)
“The result is not good even if compared to this morning we have made a big step forward improving by a second. In the last attempt of the afternoon we have found a good compromise and this make us trustful for tomorrow. It seems like we have found the right direction to follow. I still lose too much time in the third sector of the track, some small adjustment in that part could allow us to sensibly improve.”

© CAPSIS International