Toni Elías has a big opportunity this year as he is re-united with Fausto Gresini, who has provided the likeable Spaniard with a factory Honda machine in 2009.
Riding a satellite Ducati last season Elías was a disappointing twelfth in the final standings, but having returned to the Honda Gresini team over the winter he hopes to find consistent form this season.
At the conclusion of last weekend’s Official MotoGP test, however, the 26 year-old was dismayed that he could not finish higher than ninth in the BMW M Award and lagged 1.62s behind pace setter Casey Stoner.
Having been tenth and twelfth respectively in the Saturday Free Practice 1 and Sunday Free Practice 2 sessions, Elías knows there is work to do if he is to run near the front in the season-opening MotoGP race in Qatar on 12th April.
“Well I’m not happy because we were so far behind Stoner,” Elías reflected on the Jerez test. “But anyway, we had the same problems as we had in the Qatar night test. We were working hard to try and find good solutions but we didn’t see any big improvements. I think the most important thing is that we acknowledge the problem and we know the direction we need to go in.”
He continued, “There are still two weeks before the start of the championship and I think away from the track we can work a lot and I hope to be readier for the first race. I think we need to work more with the frame, we need more solutions. I really believe in Honda and I believe in the power of the bike. It is an incredible machine so if we work a little bit harder we can be really good this season.”