Gotta say, one of the most beautiful things about this weekend’s racing action was Toni Elias’s silver livery on his bike. Stunning.

The Gresini team prepared the special livery as a tribute to the World title that Elais took in Moto2, and as a gesture of thanks to Elias on behalf of Fausto Gresini and Midori Moriwaki.

Fausto Gresini
“It is a special tribute that we had to pay to Toni, who has given us so many emotions this year with an extraordinary title. The livery is a marvellous idea, which was overseen by Fabrizio Cecchini ahead of one last fantastic day with Toni. ”

Midori Moriwaki
“ I am so excited about the first title that for my family and everybody that works for Moriwaki that I I am almost in tears, it is the realisation of a dream. To celebrate it with such a wonderful livery is really fantastic. I want to thank Toni, Fausto, Fabrizio and everybody who has put so much enthusiasm into this project.”

Shame that the bike ended up in the dirt on the final lap when Elias crashed out…….

Rumour has it that Sofuoglu has been approached by Gresini as a potential replacement for Toni Elias who is moving back up to MotoGP with LCR Honda for next season.

Check out the video highlights below if you missed last weeks Moto2 action in Estoril and look at the instant impact that Kenan Sofuoglu made.

Toni Elias ( 3rd – 1´ 25″ 664):
“I´m happy because after the test at Aragon we made a few changes to the bike that up to today hadn´t had the desired effect – it had improved things a little but not much. Then in the final twenty minutes today I could feel a radical difference and I was able to make a major step forward. I was able to get into the 1´25s and that gives me confidence for tomorrow. Obviously it was important to qualify on the front row with such a tight and dangerous first corner. We´ll try to get away well and hang on to Iannone. It was a shame about the crash, which was a daft mistake and I´ve made a few of them this weekend, so hopefully I don´t make any in the race!”

Vladimir Ivanov (28th 1´ 26″ 775):
“I didn´t make the progress I hoped for today. I was 28th fastest yesterday and didn´t improve on it. Now we have to concentrate on the race and see if I can make some positions up. It won´t be easy at this track but we´ll try.”

Fausto Gresini:
“Despite all the misadventure of this weekend so far we´ve worked hard and ended up with a result that seemed impossible until twenty minutes from the end of qualifying. A front row start was really important because there are so many riders on track and it´s difficult to pass here. Toni has good pace and could maybe have improved again on the final lap if it wasn´t for a stupid mistake but I am happy and confident.”

Alex De Angelis (DNF):
“It is a tough day for us because it’s always frustrating to be forced out of a race by a mechanical problem but we know these things can happen and for us it was the first time this season. It is disappointing that it happened in the race and not in practice because it would have given us a warning – it was clearly an electrical problem though. This week the Honda engineers will run all the tests they need to do and they’ll tell us exactly what the problem is and I’m sure it won’t happen again. Obviously I’m disappointed because this was an important race for me and I really wanted to challenge for the top ten in the championship. Either way I’m confident because I love the next two tracks coming up and I’ll be giving it my all again.”

Fausto Gresini – Team Manager:
“I’m really happy with Toni’s race because it was always going to be difficult for him from the fifth row at a circuit where it is not particularly easy to overtake but he rode really well and showed a lot of belief in his own ability to take Dovizioso at the end. I’m delighted for him because it is a well-deserved sixth place. Congratulations to Toni and the team because they’ve done a great job together. I’m disappointed for Alex, who had an electrical problem and we’ll look at it with the engineers now to try and work out what it was. He could have had a good race too today and it’s a DNF we didn’t want but that’s racing.”

It’s official, Marco Melandri will return to Honda Gresini to partner up with Marco Simoncelli for 2010. Official Honda Gresini statement below:

Honda Gresini Announcement:
Fausto Gresini is pleased to announce that Marco Melandri will line up alongside Marco Simoncelli in the San Carlo Honda Gresini Team for 2010.
It is a case of ‘Back to the Future’ for the 27-year-old from Ravenna, who returns to the Italian outfit after a spending year with Ducati in 2008 and the current season on board the Team Hayate Kawasaki.

Before that the team and rider enjoyed a three-year relationship, from 2005 to 2007, that saw Melandri take the runner-up spot in the championship, win five races and finish on the podium no fewer than 17 times. During that time Melandri upheld the winning spirit at Honda Gresini and always set his sights on top results even in difficult times.

The 250cc World Champion in 2002 burst onto the world scene in 1997 here in the Czech Republic, when he scored the first of his 22 career victories (7-125cc, 10-250cc, 5-MotoGP) and 62 podiums (17-125cc, 25-250cc, 20-MotoGP) so far.

Fausto Gresini:
“It gives us great pride and satisfaction to have Marco Melandri back with us. I have always had great belief in his potential and to get our sporting and technical project with him back on track following his experiences with other teams creates fresh and important motivation. Melandri is a huge part of the Honda Gresini story – we have had great results together that over time consolidated a relationship founded on mutual respect and friendship. Now I am confident we can recreate the past successes that gave us so much joy and excitement. With Simoncelli and Melandri together in the premier class and San Carlo as main sponsor we have a true Italian flavour to the team. Circumstances have conspired to allow us to create an “Azzurro Dream Team”, which provides us all with extra motivation. The choice we have made means that we will not be extending our relationship with Elias or De Angelis, but after a start to the season that certainly wasn’t easy, thanks to a lot effort from everybody involved we are starting to pick up some good results so I hope we can keep it up until the end of the season and help them find a good ride in MotoGP. I want to thank both of them and wish them a successful future.”