Phillip Island post race rider claims

This 288 page book goes into details of life of Valentino Rossi, one of the best MotoGP racers ever. Autobiography provides inside details of both on-track and off-track life of living motorcycle legend, allowing reader to get better understanding of life and achievement of Valentino Rossi.
Buy - More details
HighRevs Shop

Casey Stoner 2010 Ducati

Diecast model of the 2010 Ducati Desmosedici GP10 of Casey Stoner. This 1:10 model is a valuable piece of MotoGP history, being the bike Stoner last ridden before his switch to Honda.
Buy - More details
HighRevs Shop

2007-10-14 Phillip Island post race rider claims
Be first to comment this story

Valentino Rossi at Phillip Island podium

Expectations to see exciting race today at Phillip Island were broken by Casey Stoner, as he has blown-out his competitors on his home track. Loris Capirossi brought second podium place to Ducati, while Valentino Rossi once more had chance to see advantage of Bridgestone tyres. Read rider thoughts after the race.

Casey Stoner - winner
Being up on the podium was just unbelievable, I've never felt anything like it. I've been working very hard for a lot of years trying to win here. This whole season has been magical for us, we came here with a lot less pressure after winning the title in Japan, so I could really enjoy this race. It's definitely my best victory so far. I have to thank the Australian fans, it's good to see so many of them here and I hope they've had a lot of fun, I really appreciate it. I made one of my best starts, I had the first corner to myself so I could concentrate on getting the tyres warmed up and ready to go. Nicky [Hayden, who DNFed] was really pushing in the beginning, he was on my rear wheel for a while but I managed to get away. I was really hoping, more than ever, that Loris would get on the podium here, so it's been another great weekend for the team and for Ducati.

Loris Capirossi - 2nd:
My start wasn't really good, so in the early laps I had to fight a lot with Marco [Melandri] and in my opinion he was little bit too aggressive. I had to push really hard to overtake him and then I said 'please take it easy'. After that I tried to keep my pace and I finished second, so I'm really, really happy and a big thanks to my team who worked so hard all weekend. This is another great moment, especially after my win at Motegi. I am trying to end my five years with Ducati in the best way possible. Ducati has won everything this year - the riders', constructors' and teams' championships, which proves that everything's working 100 per cent at the factory.

Valentino Rossi - 3rd:
Honestly I’m not too disappointed today because I know I did everything I could have possibly done. I started okay and in the opening laps I felt like I could go quite fast and have the chance to fight at the front. I passed Pedrosa and at that stage I was quite close to Hayden and Stoner, but then I made a small mistake coming onto the straight and lost a bit of time. I managed to pass Pedrosa again but then I wasn’t able to close the gap to Stoner, even though I was riding at the maximum. In places I had fun and I made some good passes; at the end especially I was hoping for a great battle with Capirossi, like the old days, but by then the grip from my rear tyre was very poor and I had to slow down to make sure I would arrive to the end. I am very happy that I was on the podium because this is a special place and it’s always a big emotion to stand there with all the crowds in pit lane. Today with Casey I think it was a bit like for me in Mugello! Anyway, now we go straight to Malaysia, where our bike usually goes well, so once again we will do the maximum and try for the win.

Dani Pedrosa - 4th:
This is not really the result we wanted here. We had an issue with the machine on my practice start in the warm-up this morning and so I was racing my second bike today. The feeling was not perfect but still I was able to push hard and fight for positions for most of the race. However in the last ten laps the grip from the tyres began to fall away quite quickly and I had a lot wheelspin and the machine was sliding when I tried to open the throttle. Casey was very fast again here and I don’t think we could have stayed with him today but it’s a shame not to be on the podium today.

Alex Barros - 5th:
The Team is happy but I'm not because I know that I could have done more. I started the race with a hard tire, because we thought that the medium wouldn't last the entire race, but in the end I think I would have had a better racepace with the medium. Nowadays in MotoGP, if you don't have everything at 100% you are not able to fight with those ahead of you. The next race in Malaysia, I hope to follow this run of form and aim to have a good finish to the season.

Randy de Puniet - 6th:
Unfortunately, like many for me this year, my start was bad, so I still need to work on those. I got behind Nakano and tried to pass but I made a mistake, losing the rear, and nearly went into the gravel at turn four. I lost another place and was behind Shinya and Anthony, and then it was impossible to overtake, so I waited four or five laps and went for it. Then I got Hopkins and Melandri, who I think had a tyre problem or something, and I finished sixth. It's not a bad result but sure, after the practices, I expected to do better in the race.

John Hopkins - 7th:
We did exactly what we wanted to do today - obviously I would have liked to have finished higher - but to get seventh from where we started is a good result. I got a great start and made a couple of places up round the outside and from there I just rode my own race. I lost a bit to the front group and tried to conserve the tyre a bit because we had chosen one of the softer compounds from our allocation. De Puniet came by me, but I then latched on to him and used him as a windbreak. It was good to see Melandri come back to us because I know how close we are in the championship so it was good to get past him later on and make up some more points. I tried to make a move on De Puniet on the last lap but made a mistake in turn one and that ruined any chance of getting past him. I really want to thank all my crew here at Suzuki as they worked their butts off this weekend to give me the best possible package for the race!

Chris Vermeulen - 8th:
It’s not great to finish in eighth, but it is a very good result from the weekend we’ve had. We’ve really struggled here both last year and this, but this year we have taken a big step and it’s great to see that we have a direction to head in. If we improve the same next year we will be pushing for the front. Full credit to all my guys; Tom, Simon, Mats, Ray and Penny, they did a great job all weekend and worked their little hearts out! They gave me a great bike to race and now I can’t wait to get to Malaysia.

Colin Edwards - 9th:
After the problems we’d had all weekend we made a big change to the tyres and to our setting for the race, more towards what Valentino was running, so it was pretty different to what I’d been used to all weekend. I got pinched a bit at the start and had to go round the outside of a few people, and then I had a huge moment at the end of the first lap where it nearly flicked me off and I lost a few places. Once I’d got the measure of how to ride it though it actually felt okay and I did a 31.9 at one point, which I hadn’t been close to all weekend. I gave it everything I had today and, although I can’t be happy with ninth, after the nightmare I’d had all weekend I think it could have been worse. It’s been great to have so many family and friends here as ever and I want to say a huge thank you to my guys; they’ve had to work so hard changing the bike around so much and they’ve done a great job as always.

Marco Melandri - 10th:
Today we were in good shape to finish on the podium. After a good start from the fourth row I was able to battle virtually for the whole race in the top five. I had a good pace and the bike felt really good. I could have fought for second but unfortunately I had problems. I tried to finish the race as best as I could. I’m disappointed with tenth place because we had the potential for a much better result at a circuit I love and where I have already won in all three classes, as well as lifting the 250 title here.

Carlos Checa - 11th:
The start and opening laps were the best for me and I did my fastest lap of the weekend on lap seven. I was still suffering from a lack of turning, especially in the very fast turn three, plus it was difficult to stay ahead on the front straight. I had a lot of fun in the fight with West, Vermeulen and Edwards, it is more enjoyable than riding alone. The team worked hard to improve the bike but this was the best result possible today.

Anthony West - 12th:
My start wasn't that great but I started to work my way through and did okay; I was feeling good. I tried to push as much as I could until I'd pretty much destroyed the rear tyre. I couldn't keep my speed up through the corners and, as has been the case over the past day or so, it was particularly difficult to feel comfortable when the bike was leaned over on the left hand side. I was working to stay at the front of my group but by the last few laps I don't think the tyre had anything left. I'm not very happy about my result but the fans here have been really supportive so hopefully, by the time we come back here next year, I can give them some more to cheer about.

Shinya Nakano - 13th:
My start wasn’t too bad – it’s nice to start from the third row for a change. Initially I found I could stay with the middle group at the start of the race. My pace at the start wasn’t too bad – I was actually faster than during practice – so I was enjoying myself. Unfortunately from the middle to the end of the race I couldn’t keep my rhythm going. Our problem was chattering from the front-end of the RCV211V when under hard braking for the two hairpin corners. I think what we need to do is start Friday with a faster lap-time and then make changes from there to find a setting that works better when we’re going faster in the race.

Toni Elias - 15th:
It’s been a difficult weekend and today I suffered from a few different problems that prevented me from riding as I can. I had problems with the front tyre from the start, then at the halfway stage we developed a problem with the electronics and I just tried to finish the race. I want to put this behind me now and just think about Malaysia. Sepang is one of my favourite circuits so hopefully we can have a much better result there.

Kurtis Roberts - 17th:
This weekend’s been tough just because of the weather conditions. And it’s the first time I’ve been here in ten years. We did as much as we could. I probably could have ridden a bit better, but I tried my hardest and ended up just losing out to Tamada and Elias right at the end. I’d got ahead of Tamada, but I just left the door open coming down the hill on the last lap. He pulled alongside and I went round the corner right with him. I thought I could out-drive him on the way out, but he had more grip. My bike was spinning there the whole race. I tried again in the last corner, but I went sideways.

Chaz Davies - DNF:
I didn't have a good start, but I was able to make up some positions in the early laps and get into a good rhythm. In the fifth lap, I started having problems with the rear and it became difficult to ride the Ducati. Unfortunately, by the 12th lap I started having a technical problem with the bike and was forced to retire. I hope to have better luck in Malaysia.

Nicky Hayden - DNF:
That’s a tough one to swallow. That hurts because we were having a really good race and the bike was feeling by far the best it has all season without a doubt. Stoner was setting a hot pace – he was a little bit quicker in some places and I was quicker than him in a few places. I was trying to hang in there and ride smoothly and try to preserve the tyres and not get too crazy too quickly. It’s easy to speculate on what would have happened at the end of the race… After a few laps I was still right on him but all of a sudden the engine started to get tight and started slowing down. I was nervous but it kept running and I wasn’t going to pull over so I kept one hand on the clutch. Eventually she tied up and that was it – another goose egg in the points column.

Back to MotoGP news home

Valentino Rossi t-shirt

Yellow Valentino Rossi t-shirt, featuring sun and moon symbols on sleeves. Made of 100% cotton, VR-46 logo on the chest.
Buy - More details
HighRevs Shop