Elias receives three-race ultimatum?

Toni Elias is reportedly under pressure to turn his MotoGP season around over the next three races or face the axe from his LCR Honda team.

The Spaniard, a former winner at MotoGP level, has endured a troublesome time since being rewarded with a return to the top flight as a result of his dominant Moto2 title victory in 2010.

Beginning the year significantly off the pace, though Elias has begun to set up some constancy in recent races, his results remain a far cry from the usual top ten finishes being achieved by Randy de Puniet last season.

Elias's position in the team is supported by Dorna as a way of promoting the reliability of Moto2, while Honda even complete a new chassis from the Catalunya Grand Prix.

However, sponsors are allegedly unhappy with the current results, which top out with an eighth place at Silverstone, and Elias is now under force to deliver over the next three rounds.

Furthermore, Elias is unspoken to have been experiencing a conflict of opinion with the LCR team over the set-up of his bike, a rumour apparently confirmed by LCR press officer Oscar Haro.

"Mugello was a disaster,” Haro is quoted by Catalunya Radio. “Toni has realized that it didn't go well. From Germany, [we go] back to the settings that HRC and our crew chief will make a decision and Toni to presume his role as pilot and technician. The RC212V has more than proven to be super competitive.”

Elías takes positives from Assen top-ten result

In Friday’s tough qualifying session Elías was not talented to make the most of the softer rear tyre, qualifying 16th on the grid, but the Spaniard made another strong start from the last row and in spite of the slippery conditions of the Dutch asphalt the Moto2 World Champion kept his steady rhythm until the end of the race. Now Elías and his squad will move on straight to Italy for the crowded Mugello GP this weekend.

Toni Elías:

“As I said many times previously this is not the position I was dreaming of, but allowing for the rear grip issues and these difficult asphalt conditions I am very pleased about this race. I took another good start from the last row concluding the first lap in 9th position. Suddenly Abraham stopped in front of me and I risked crashing into him, so I lost a couple of seconds there. If the race would have been wet I could have fought for a better position but I cannot protest now. We still have many things to regulate in the dry and we will see what the weather is going to be in Mugello.”

Elias targets MotoGP regardless of Moto2 title

The former MotoGP race winner is now determined to get back into the top flight in 2011, even if he doesn't win the 2010 Moto2 title.

Toni Elias says it is his intention to return to the MotoGP in 2011, regardless of whether he wraps up the Moto2 championship he is currently fronting.

Despite finishing a solid seventh in the 2009 MotoGP standings, Elias found himself out with a ride for this season, the Spaniard instead the opting to join the inaugural Moto2 series as arguably its highest-profile entrant.

Not surprisingly, Elias has been the rider to beat on his Gresini Moriwaki so far this year, the 27-year-old winning on the two occasions already, while he has finished inside the top five in all but a single race so far.

However, while his current lead of 17 points at the top of the table puts him well on the way towards becoming the first-ever Moto2 title winner, Elias is hoping he already proven he deserves to be back in MotoGP.

“I will wait to see what arrives,” he told MotoGP.com. “I am only thinking about a return to the MotoGP for 2011 because I only want to stay in Moto2 for this year. If I am World Champion or not I would like to be in the MotoGP for 2011.”

His comments comes as the former Gresini Honda MotoGP team-mate Alex de Angelis embarks on his return to competition this weekend aboard the Interwetten Honda.

“Last year he [Alex] was my team-mate and we both had a good relationship. I don't like the bad luck he has had this year with the bike and the crashes, sometimes it's not been his fault and I think it's good he has the opportunity to get back into the MotoGP. I wish him all the best.”

Nationality	Spanish
Date of birth	March 26, 1983 (1983-03-26)
Place of birth	Manresa, Spain
Current team	Gresini Racing Moto2
Bike number	24