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CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) DNF
"It is very disappointing for the weekend to end like this after showing such a high level of performance in practice. Basically we took the decision to put one lap on the race tyre in warm-up this morning to get it scrubbed in: we've done it before and not had a problem but today I could feel from the first lap that the grip wasn't right. After a few laps it started to feel better and I was gaining confidence but it let go. It's a real shame but, anyway, we tried hard here and once again I think we've shown we are very fast, we have a great bike and tyres that work fantastically. This gives me confidence for next year and I'm looking forward to it already. As for the injury, it's huge disappointment this problem came out but I'll have to wait until the end of the season for an operation."
MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) 9th
"I got a good start but lost a lot of ground in the second corner because Vermuelen almost crashed in front of me and I nearly hit him. But I have to say that the feeling with the bike was good from the first lap. I got past De Angelis but I guess he was keen to get back at me and he tried a pass in a corner where it was too difficult to pass. We touched and I ran wide, losing a lot more ground again. Slowly but surely I recovered and passed a few riders but the group ahead was too far away, otherwise I could have fought for an even better result. In general, even though the result is not as good as Brno."
FILIPPO PREZIOSI (General Director, Ducati Corse)
"I'm really disappointed for Casey but it is important that we stay together as a team at a moment like this. We leave here knowing that we have a competitive bike, a good team and a truly great rider. I am proud to be able to work with Casey Stoner. In the early stages of the race Marco was held up by De Angelis and lost a lot of ground but it was great to see him at the end of the race setting lap times that would have been good enough for the podium. It is another step forward and we hope that he and Toni Elias - who had another splendid race and I want to congratulate him and his team for that - can consolidate their progress."
Dani Pedrosa, finished 4th, 3rd in World Championship
“That was a definitely a very physically tough race for everyone. It was very hot, much hotter than yesterday. Anyway, I can say I’m quite happy with the result. I didn’t expect to finish fourth at the end. We had some trouble during the second half. We had two different rear tyres to choose from and I only made the choice on the grid. I went for the softer of the two tyres, thinking to gain some advantage during the early stages of the race. Obviously it wasn’t the best option. But we had a much better race than we had at Brno and I did my best, so I am quite happy.”
Nicky Hayden, did not start, 11th in World Championship
“This wasn’t an easy decision. I love to race and the racer in me wanted to race, but in this kind of situation it’s better to listen to the experts. The heel got worse as the weekend went on. I was sixth on Friday morning but I kept working my way backward after that, the more I rode, the more strength I lost in the foot. When I woke up this morning I had a lot of swelling and bruising, there wasn’t any way the foot was going to fit in a boot. The team and I took the decision to try and be smart, to try to let it heal as best it can to get it ready for Indy, which is a huge race for me. I felt I could have salvaged a little something out of today’s race but that was just going to make things worse for Indy and for the rest of the season.”
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager
“Fourth position isn’t so good because we were targeting the podium today, but Dani fought well. It is great to see him come back so strongly after a difficult weekend at Brno. Now we have five races left and we will target victory. We believe Nicky made the correct decision not to ride and we fully support his decision. Nicky is a real racer, so he very much wanted to race here. But it is better for him to be in a better situation for the final five races, rather than to race here and do further damage to the heel.”
Shinya Nakano (12th):
“It was a really difficult race for us today. Despite making a decent start and getting a couple of good laps under my belt, I started to feel a chattering problem in certain corners and couldn’t push hard. By the closing stages of the race my lap times had dropped off by three seconds compared to our pace in practice leading up to this Grand Prix. It is obvious that something isn’t working but we’ll have to analyse the data to find out what it is and work out a solution.”
Alex De Angelis (DNF):
“I’m really disappointed with today’s race because I got a good start and could have had a good race. Unfortunately Melandri came past me down the straight and we touched in the next corner under heavy braking. We both lost a lot of ground on the riders ahead of us and as I pushed hard to try and close the gap I lost the rear of the bike and it threw me into the air. I tried to hang on but I grabbed the front brake and crashed.”
Fausto Gresini - Team Manager:
“I’m disappointed with the way this Grand Prix has finished – both for Alex’s crash and Shinya’s result. Unfortunately these things happen in racing; we wanted to produce a good showing in our home Grand Prix but we weren’t able to. Obviously now we look ahead and try to be positive and optimistic, even if we don’t feel in the best mood for it right now.”
Fabiano Sterlacchini – Alice Team Technical Director
“Everything went well today with Toni. We maintained the race rhythm we expected and we are really satisfied of the work done. Toni has basically been perfect apart some laps where he seemed to have some grip problem but after a little bit he made it to find back the initial rhythm. This way he made it to get some seconds of advantage from Pedrosa in fourth position. This podium is even more important compared to two weeks ago because we are much closer to the fastest riders and it is the confirmation that our group is doing a really good job.”
Toni Elias – Alice Team rider (3rd in the race – 12th in the MotoGP Championship)
“After Laguna Seca things have changed radically. I always had much better feeling with the bike and the results prove it. I hope to continue this way for the rest of the season. I would love to fight for the Podium at each Gran Prix. I know it’s not easy but I will try. I had a lot of fun here today even if this circuit, with all these turns, hard breaking and acceleration is really tiring. At one stage I tried to follow Lorenzo but I made some mistakes and I decided to hold on my position and here is when Pedrosa caught me up. Therefore I decided to calm down a bit and I found back the initial race rhythm. I am really happy for this result also for the all Alice Team.”
Sylvain Guintoli – Alice Team rider (11th in the race – 15th in the MotoGP Championship)
“Today we had many difficulties. I pushed at the maximum but lap times weren’t going down. The race rhythm compared to yesterday wasn’t as good and we still have to understand why. I would like to conquer a good result this season for the Team and all the sponsors that have worked really hard this year. I will do my best in these last five races.”
Anthony West: #13 - 13th Position
"I just didn't have the confidence to push the front all weekend, and I couldn't found a solution to this, which was obviously reflected in our result today. On a positive note we did manage to set the fastest lap time of the weekend in the race, and had we been further up the grid, I am sure we could have been battling for stronger positions. John and I were locked together for most of the race and although I had to push quite hard, I managed to hold him off to the flag. At the post-race test in Brno we tried a revised specification front tyre from Bridgestone, which definitely was an improvement, but we couldn't get it to work comfortably with the bike here, so this is an area we need to concentrate on as I believe this can help us achieve better results."
John Hopkins: #21 – 14th Position
"This weekend has been frustratingly tough for us. Having aggravated the injury to my rib we missed two sessions and basically ran out of time to set the bike up. We got a good start to the race, but I was suffering with quite a lot of discomfort from the injury and I just couldn't push as hard as I wanted to. We're struggling with a few problems with the front-end feeling, but again, that's simply down to a lack of track time. All of the other Bridgestone riders are on a different specification tyre, and this is something we need time to test as I think it will make a big difference for us. I'm having some intense treatment overnight and hopefully we can get plenty of laps under our belt tomorrow to put us in better stead for my home race in Indianapolis."
Michael Bartholemy: Kawasaki Competition Manager
"Today has been difficult for us, and this result is not what we had expected after Brno. Anthony has struggled with a lack of confidence all weekend and, although he set his fastest lap of all of the sessions during the race, it wasn't enough to bridge the gap to the other riders. John lost out on a lot of track time this weekend, so he was always going to be at a disadvantage today. After suffering with so many challenges lately, he is quite down. It's always tough coming back from an injury, but he knows that he needs to put that behind him, get his head down and get on with securing the results we know he's capable of. I hope he can take advantage of tomorrow's test to catch up on the set-up time he's lost through injury, because a successful test will be just the thing to motivate him for the next race in Indianapolis."
Chris Vermeulen:
"I got a good start and, although I got pushed a bit wide in the first turn, I still thought I'd hold on to my position but as I entered turn two the rear tyre was just not warm enough and I had a big slide. I thought it was all over then, but luckily I landed back on the bike and although I smashed the fairing with my leg no harm was done! I didn't quite have the pace that I have had this weekend which was probably due to the higher temperatures, and we certainly slid around a bit more today! This is the first time we have raced with the new chassis and with the new construction front tyre that Bridgestone brought here for us, so with all things considered - and from where I ended the first lap - I think we had a good race. The tyres worked especially well and I did my fastest time on lap 25 out of the 28 – it was just a shame I wasn't with the front group from the beginning or things might have been very different!"
Loris Capirossi:
"It has been quite a hard weekend for me as we have been working a lot on the new chassis and getting it right. I really want to thank my team as they have all worked so hard to get it the best it can be. I think maybe we changed too many things on the bike and lost our way a bit, but at the end the bike seemed to work ok. This morning during warm-up we went back a bit and then on the grid I had to change my front tyre and had to start with a new one that didn't have the right feeling to start with. The tyre soon got better and in the end I didn't go too badly! I made a big fight on the last lap and tried to overtake, but I made a little mistake and couldn't quite hold it, but for my 277th Grand Prix it was not too bad!"
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
"These were not the results we were hoping for today, but it was a fantastic effort by both riders nonetheless. Misano is a very difficult circuit to pass on and for Chris to come from so far back - after a huge high-side on the first lap – and fight his way through to fifth was a great performance. He had the pace to challenge for the podium, but there was no way it was going to happen from that far back! Loris's pace was very similar to Chris's and he too enjoyed some fantastic battles to get through the field. It could easily have been fifth and sixth, but Loris's manoeuvre didn't quite work on the last lap. Seventh isn't where Loris wants to be, but the spirit and determination he showed in the race indicates that he is as enthusiastic in his 277th GP as he was in his first!
"This was the Team's first race with the prototype chassis that we tested in Brno, and we always gather much better data from a full race distance than we do from a test, so we hope the work we have done this weekend is going to put us in good stead for Indianapolis and the final run-in to the end of the season."
det är inte lätt att ha vale flåsande i nacken
