Melandri concerned over Honda pace
Added on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Melandri has failed to make an impression in pre-season.
Marco Melandri has expressed concerns over the Honda RC212V ahead of the new season after a largely disappointing test for San Carlo Gresini Honda in Losail.
Melandri was only able to muster a 14th fastest combined time whilst teammate Marco Simoncelli was the slowest on the weekend, raising huge concerns for Melandri over what has recently been perceived as one of the stronger satellite teams in the paddock.
A crash on day two didn’t help Melandri’s cause but the Italian does not think that the problems are exclusive to Gresini, with only two Honda riders, factory rider Andrea Dovizioso and satellite rider Randy de Puniet, making it into the top ten. Instead, there were disappointing showings from Dani Pedrosa (13th overall) and Hiroshi Aoyama (16th) and Melandri has called on Honda to address the issues as a matter of urgency.
“I’m a bit disappointed because we’ve tried practically everything but nothing has helped us get on the right track,” he claimed. “None of the changes gave encouraging results and our work was just being wasted.
“A crash further complicated things with the bike being completely wrecked. I don’t think that it’s just our problem though because I can see that virtually all the Honda riders have similar problems to us. The first race will soon be upon us and the current situation is quite worrying. We need total commitment all round to find the answers and overcome this tough moment.”
