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2006-10-18 Estoril post race interview: Top 10 riders
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Top ten finishers of MotoGP race that took place last weekend in Estoril were ordered in a way that not many of us could expect. Maiden victory for Toni Elias came in right moment for him to secure MotoGP future. Second place for Rossi, combined with fact that Nicky Hayden is on the DNF list, brought much optimism about championship prospects in Yamaha team. Read post race interviews of top 10 Estoril finishers.
Toni Elias - 1st:
It’s incredible, I can’t believe it. I am really happy. It was a very hard race, really hard. I made a good start and over the first few laps felt very comfortable on the bike. I was behind Colin and realised that he was holding me up, so I pushed hard to get past him. I pushed until I closed up on Valentino and then passed him to lead a MotoGP race for the very first time. The next lap I made three errors all at once and I decided not to risk too much by trying to get past him again at that stage. I felt very comfortable at the first corner all race and was able to out-break people and so I did not want to let the opportunity pass on the final lap. At no time did I give up, that’s my riding style. I want to thank the team for the great job they have done and thank all the fans that came to see the race.
Valentino Rossi - 2nd
I'm really happy to be finally leading the championship; this is the most important thing for today, even if I am disappointed not to have won! I made a good start and was in front after turn one, but I knew that my pace wasn't as fast as yesterday, because it was about ten degrees colder and this gave us some problems. When I saw that Colin was behind me this made me quite relaxed because I knew he would help me as much as he could. He rode a great race and I have to say a big thank you to him, I am so sad that he's not on the podium with me today. It was a very hard race for me and I had to push all the way because Kenny, Toni and Colin were very fast too. Going into the last chicane I knew I had to come out in front, but then Toni was just a little bit faster than me to the line. Well done to him for his first win, he really rode a hard race today! Now we have two weeks until the final showdown, so we need to relax and stay focused and try to do another weekend like this in Valencia! Once again of course I need to thank my team and everyone involved, I think we've really shown today that we have real 'team spirit' at Yamaha and Colin and I are really lucky to be able to race in a team like this."
Kenny Roberts Jr - 3rd:
We’d improved quite a bit from Japan and I knew if I got a good start I’d be OK, but I didn’t want to be taking anyone out so I tried to get past Rossi on the last lap. But I miscalculated and when I crossed the line I thought I’d see the chequered flag – but there was one lap to go. I probably should have pulled this one out – but I won’t make the same mistake in Valencia – if I get the chance.
Colin Edwards - 4th
I got a decent start and just tried to help Valentino out, holding the other guys up where I could because in practice our pace was around the 1'37.9 mark so I thought if I could hold it at 1'38.5 he might be able get away. My plan was to put the hammer down once he'd gone and hopefully shake off the rest of the guys to seal up second place but Valentino couldn't quite match his practice pace and we were just hanging behind him. It was a real scrap out there at the end and to be honest I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't make it onto the podium because we had the pace all weekend, the guys have done a brilliant job with the bike and I wanted to give them something to celebrate. Anyway, as a team things couldn't have worked out much better so it's been a very satisfactory weekend for us and now we'll aim to go out on an even bigger high in Valencia.
Makoto Tamada - 5th:
During qualifying I found a good race set-up and in the warm-up I found a good rear tyre. The tyres worked well for the first half of the race then I had some understeer in the turns. So I didn’t force things and just kept my position.
John Hopkins - 6th:
I didn’t get off the line very well. The clutch was dragging a bit and I had to hold the brake on to stop the bike moving and then the red light went out - so that screwed up my start really. From the first lap on I had to be on a mission to make some passes. I went round the outside of Shinya and a couple of other riders, but unfortunately Shinya hit my back tyre and flipped over – I hope he’s alright. After that I stuck my head down and went for it. I made a couple of passes then lost them again and then gained them back. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for other riders, some guys got taken out. It’s a shame for them and I really want to say it’s a big shame for Nicky to go out that way, he was riding well and if that costs him the championship that will be really unfortunate. We didn’t have the best grip we’ve ever had, but we seemed to make it work and my crew worked their butts off this weekend. Bridgestone also worked hard here to try and give us that bit extra. I can’t complain at sixth place, it’s well inside the top 10, which is where we want to be. We are looking good for a top 10 place over the season and I really want to get some good points at Valencia and finish the season strong.
Carlos Checa - 7th
I am very satisfied with this result but it could've been much worse as I had some difficulty in the first corner. I touched with (Chris) Vermeulen as he braked very deep inside me and I know that first turn can have some big troubles and I wanted to have some space. After that I passed some riders and I was really having fun because it was the first time for awhile I have been able pass some riders and race. Then I caught the group with Elias and Roberts but then I started to lose the stability of the rear and it started moving around. Also I lost the side grip particularly on the final turn so I lose three or four tenths each lap and combined with the lose of stability this didn't give me a chance to stay with them. I swapped places with Tamada a few times but then I couldn't keep with him. I was riding so hard I nearly ran off the track and then Hopkins passed me I was lucky to stay on the track so I decided I had to finish the race and conserve the tyre as much as I could so this seventh place finish was very acceptable considering these difficulties.
Marco Melandri - 8th:
A difficult weekend. It started badly with the Friday crash and we did a good job to get back from that but we couldn’t quite find what we needed. The bike was Ok but I never had quite enough grip to go fast. I tried to push but whenever I did I made a mistake. Eighth wasn’t bad under the circumstances and I’m still third in the World Championship. Well done to Toni, but I feel sorry for Nicky.
Chris Vermeulen - 9th:
It was an enjoyable race today. A lot of guys could do some pretty fast lap times this weekend and everybody knew that. I think that’s why a few guys went down early on as they were maybe trying too hard. I got baulked a few times at the beginning but I got a good enough start. We used a harder tyre than I normally like to use, to try and make it last to the end of the race, but still the biggest problem was durability. In the middle of the race I ran off into the gravel - as I was passing Capirossi - and lost some time, but I caught him up again and passed him. It was my first time here at Estoril and I’ve finished inside the top 10 so I’m quite happy with that. We now move to Valencia which is a circuit I’ve done quite a lot of laps on and I plan to be a lot quicker and stronger for the whole weekend.
Randy de Puniet - 10th:
I got a good start, and a couple of aggressive moves in the opening lap put me just outside the top ten, but then the rear tyre went off after just five laps, and I couldn't stay with the group ahead of me. I've never felt anything like it before. I was still pushing really hard and, by changing my lines through the turns, I was able to improve my lap time, which allowed me to close onto the back of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi. We were both able to pass Loris towards the end of the race, but I just couldn't get close enough to Chris to steal ninth place away from him. This is my best result so far this season, but I can't help feeling it would have been even better if we hadn't struggled so much for grip in every session. It's been a hard weekend for Kawasaki, but everyone in the team, together with the guys from Bridgestone, have done a great job under the circumstances, and for that I would like to say thanks to them.
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