De Angelis surprised by Jerez pace

The rookie Honda Gresini rider, in only his second outing as a MotoGP racer, finished in the top seven in all three days of test and was fourth fastest in the second session on Wednesday.

"The balance is really positive because I was always quick, in positions I didn't expect and with respectable laptimes if compared with those of the last Grand Prix at Jerez," de Angelis told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Besides, these are my first runs and compared to my rivals I've done three days less of testing since I didn't go to Malaysia. That's why I'm happy with these results.

"I tested tyres a bit and I worked on the electronics to adapt it to my needs. I improved consistently and even managed to improve the pace on race tyres by one second."

De Angelis admitted, however, that he still needs more time to adapt to the riding of the MotoGP bikes.

"I'm impressed by the easiness with which you can get on the gas, and when the rear slides the skidding is very long: you just need to find the courage to accelerate very early because electronics intervene to control the power," he added.

"But obviously not everything is done by electronics so the rider must be good at changing it according to his needs.

"My lines are different from those of the best guys. I enter the turns too wide so I cover more mileage. It's surely disadvantageous, but I'll adapt little by little."