San Carlo Honda Gresini MotoGP goes all out at Indianapolis

The Honda Gresini team wants to build on what they achieved in Brno, with Aoyama finishing ninth and Simoncelli finally reaching the podium. This season has been very turbulent for the team, and the shadow of Super-Sic’s antics didn’t let up until the last race.

At last the Italian rider seems to have shaken off his bad luck and has been able to break the streak that kept him from the podium. On one hand, his controversial on-track actions; on the other, press conferences and warnings from other riders had this great rider unsettled, preventing him from giving everything he has inside.

On the other hand, the Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama returns to the place where he came back to racing last year, after missing six races due to an injury.

Statements from Marco Simoncelli:

I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders in Brno, where I achieved my first podium in the MotoGP category and my 30th podium across all categories. It has been a great achievement and a source of satisfaction, because we had been chasing it since the start of the season without managing to get there for various reasons. I needed it, and I’m very happy for myself, for the team, for Honda and for everyone who believed in me. That cloud no longer hangs over us, and we hope that now, in the second part of the season, everything will be easier.

I feel strong and determined, and I’m travelling to America in good spirits to keep progressing positively. Indianapolis is a circuit I like, although I face a small disadvantage compared with smaller riders because of the first-gear corner that leads into a long straight. It’s a problem, but we must give our best so that it costs us as little as possible. I have already won at Indianapolis in the 250cc class in 2009, and I took pole in 2008 when the race was cancelled because of the hurricane.

Both the team and I are very motivated, and we hope to continue along the path we found in Brno.

Statements from Hiroshi Aoyama:

Ninth in Brno was not an impressive result, but it was positive for me because I have recovered my physical condition and my confidence with the bike. After the Czech round I feel more motivated and stronger for the second part of the season. I need to rediscover my confidence in myself and in the RC212V, and I think Brno was a great weekend in that respect. I face Indianapolis with a new frame of mind. Here I finished second behind Marco Simoncelli in the 250cc class a couple of years ago, and here I returned to racing last year after six races out.

It was not an easy weekend, but I managed to finish the race and I had a lot of fun on track, so I think this can be a good weekend.

Statements from Fausto Gresini:

It seemed almost an impossible miracle after all the times the podium had slipped through our fingers for one reason or another. Marco and the team did a fantastic job of not losing faith and continuing to believe in his potential. Now the bad run is over, and everything should be easier for Marco; he can now ride the bike more relaxed and develop his potential much further. Brno was a very important weekend for the team, and I’m very happy for Marco, for everyone who works in the team, for our partners, and for San Carlo, who take a great interest in our project.

Now we head to Indianapolis with a different mindset. It is a circuit that has gone well for us over the last two years, with Alex De Angelis’s podium in 2009 and a victory in Moto2 with Toni Elías last year. For all of this, it is a good circuit for us, and I hope we can celebrate a good result here.

Hiroshi Aoyama has regained his confidence in Brno, and I am sure that this weekend we will see the rider who was running near the front at the start of the season.