First podium of year for Nieto.

Fonsi Nieto picked up his first podium position of the season for the Team Repsol-Telef?nica MoviStar in the Italian GP at the Mugello circuit on Sunday, giving himself a boost in the world championship standings.

A problem with the lights at the beginning of the race meant that the original start was cancelled and the riders had to form on the grid for a second time but, at the restart, both Nieto and team-mate Toni El?as were running in the top three behind Manuel Poggiali, who set a very fast rhythm over the opening laps.

Randy de Puniet passed Nieto at the end of the second lap and escaped with Poggiali, whilst El?as was now struggling back in seventh place and could not follow the pace of the leaders. With six laps to go, however, de Puniet suffered a crash which benefited Nieto, who was still lapping in third place at the time. The Frenchman rejoined the race but crashed again a few laps later and lost any chance of making the podium.

"I got a good start and went with Poggiali and de Puniet, but they were setting a really fast pace," Nieto revealed, "Manuel's bike was very fast and, in just a few laps, he began to open up a gap. I tried to cut it back but, with the heat, the tyre started to slip from underneath me and I decided not to take any unnecessary risks and to make sure of the podium. I benefited from de Puniet's crash because, if he had not gone down, I would have been third.

"I am very happy with second place, especially for my team, who have worked hard. I hope this result is a compensation for them. The work we are doing is starting to bear fruit and we are getting closer. Now we are going to Barcelona for our home race, and this result gives me confidence to go to Montmel?. Stepping on the podium and smelling the champagne is always a nice feeling."

El?as had to make do with sixth place after a set-up problem with his Aprilia meant he could not fight for the top positions. Nieto has made up some vital ground in the championship standings and is now just seven points behind his team-mate, who is third overall.

"I am unhappy because we have not found solutions to the problems which we have endured for several races," Elias sighed, "Today, in the warm-up, the bike was running worse than yesterday. Before the race started, after one warm-up lap, there was a problem with the start light and it crossed my mind to swap for my second bike, but I would have had to start from pit-lane and I dropped the idea.

"I can't understand where the problem is. In winter testing, I was lapping in record time here and, today, I was three seconds per lap off the leaders."