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2008-10-05 Phillip Island rider claims
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 Despite domination of Casey Stoner in today's race, we had chance to see some great action and to enjoy exciting race. Hayden was back on the sharp edge of racing once again, while Valentino Rossi made great comeback from 12th on the grid. We also had chance to see great battle for 4th place involving 4 riders, so for sure everyone is full of impressions you may read here.
Casey Stoner - 1st:
This weekend has been a bit like the whole season - up and down! Thankfully it's finished on a high and it's a great feeling to win my home Grand Prix in front of all these wonderful fans, with my family here too. That's largely down to the hard work of my team because we've had some issues with the bike here but today it felt great and I was able to push hard from the first lap. Sometimes at this track you can have the best pace but still get dragged into a battle but I was able to get away, even though Nicky chased me hard for a long time before eventually dropping off and giving me some breathing space. It's been a great year for me and even though we haven't won the title I feel proud of our achievements. If we can battle for the championship again next year that would be great but for now I'm just going to enjoy winning my home GP.
Valentino Rossi - 2nd:
That was a very exciting race for me, from start to finish! Unfortunately I made a small mistake yesterday and I paid a high price for it – both with my starting position and with my body! This morning my neck was okay but I had a lot of pain in my head, so I have to say thank you to Dr. Costa and the Clinica Mobile because they gave me a lot of massage and some medicine and I was in better shape for the race. I got a good start and I was lucky to miss de Angelis by just a couple of centimetres, and then I arrived to Lorenzo and Toseland. The first time I passed James I thought I would be able to go but then he passed me back and I realised that his pace was not so bad, and we had a great battle! He was very strong and difficult to pass but once I did get by I was able to go and then I just kept pushing and gradually Nicky got bigger and bigger. It was fun to keep fighting till the last lap and I am very happy with this second position because it’s always a great emotion to be on the podium here. Thanks to my team and to Bridgestone, with Casey as strong as he was I think this was the best we could have done today and I really enjoyed the race.
Nicky Hayden - 3rd:
We got a really good start and I thought was going to lead. Things felt pretty good early on, I went a lot faster in the race than I went all weekend. The bike and everything was working pretty good, so I was able to stay with Casey for a while, I felt comfortable there. Then once he started to pull away I had some issues, I couldn’t keep the corner speed I had early on. I enjoyed the race, it was a lot of fun – riding this track for 27 laps is quite intense, you don’t realise how fast you’re going around here. It was a good battle at the end, Valentino started coming for me, I started to ride a little harder but I ended up going a little slower. I tried to stay wheels in line as best I could and hold him off. But I didn’t get off the last corner great going into the last lap. Coming down the start-finish I saw him on the big TV screen out of the corner of my eye, so I knew it was going to be tough, there wasn’t much I could do, I didn’t have much tyre left. Nonetheless it’s cool to be on the podium, I enjoyed the race. My Michelin guys wanted me to run a harder tyre. I did the sighting lap on that tyre, put back in my original choice for the race. The warm-up was really good, it was nice to get some heat in there. It got a little loose at the end but it was fun. A big thanks to my team and to all my fans for sticking with me.
Jorge Lorenzo - 4th:
I’m not very happy with the race because I know I should have been able to fight for the podium today. I didn’t ride like I know I can, Toseland was in front of me many times and I couldn’t pass him, and then I couldn’t follow Valentino when he came through. I think I had the rhythm to have been with Valentino but it didn’t work today. Even though it’s mathematically still possible, I think that the second and third places in the championship are probably lost to me now. I think that the most important thing now is to get good results in Malaysia and Valencia so that we finish the season in the right way. The team, the tyres and the bike are all working well, we’re getting good results but we know they can be better. I like Malaysia a lot, I rode there in the winter and I think it will be good for Michelin, so I’m looking forward to it.
Shinya Nakano - 5th:
Despite our problems in practice the race went well today – I got a good start and managed to improve on my pace from practice so I’m really satisfied. After the warm-up we decided on a medium compound tyre, which proved to be the right choice because the bike felt really balanced and I was able to stick with a fast group of riders from the start. Having chosen a softer compound I obviously didn’t want to risk too much in the early stages because I needed to save some rubber for the end and on the final five laps I really pushed hard, taking two riders and crossing the line in fifth. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a race like this so today I’m happy I was able to show our true potential and I’d like to thank the team for that.
James Toseland - 6th:
That was an unbelievable race. I got a really good start but Casey and Nicky were incredibly fast at the start. They really put the hammer down and I was wary that I needed to save my tyre for the last few laps, which are always difficult on this track with so much wear on the left side. I just wanted to stay out of trouble but I had some incredible battles out there. The one with Valentino was something special. When he passed me I knew I had to get straight back by him. If I had let him go I knew I’d have to push right at the limit and that would wear my tyre too quickly. The rear was already spinning at that point and I tried everything I could to keep him behind me. When he did pass me and he pulled a gap, I did push a bit too hard and that cost me towards the end of the race. But it was an honour to be racing with Valentino and passing him. In the last three laps I’d just lost a bit of grip and that was crucial because it probably cost me those two places. I knew fourth was up for grabs so I tried to pass Andrea at Honda Hairpin on the last lap. We ran a bit wide and Andrea seemed a bit upset but I passed him without touching him. I am sorry if he is upset, but he is upset for no reason. I was fighting for the best result of my MotoGP career so I had to try something. Shinya came by as I ran wide but I passed him back at Siberia, only for him to come right back underneath me because I ran a bit wide again. I am just happy with the way I rode. I rode hard and I am really pleased that on my birthday I put a good show on and I could enjoy it. I was riding my heart out and when I have a ride like that and I pass Valentino it encourages me even more.
Andrea Dovizioso - 7th:
I feel I made a tremendous race. If I had not had to recover from last after being pushed off the track at the start, we could have had a podium. At the start I kept on the left for the first turn, Lorenzo was almost alongside me and then he moved outside. This resulted in me finishing on the grass. From here I started a great comeback, even if in those first laps I could not push 100%, but instead I followed Valentino Rossi who also had the pace to gain positions. With Lorenzo we could have moved towards third position, but Toseland was too aggressive and a little dangerous while fighting for the lead of the group. The last ten laps the tyres were finished and I was not able to push anymore. At one of the corners, I had to go wide to avoid Toseland, who I was lining up to overtake, but because of this Nakano made it past us both. I am sorry to have lost the fourth place because it was a reality today.
Colin Edwards - 8th:
I got a really good start and I thought I could hang in with the battle for third and fourth, but pretty much from the first couple of laps I knew it was going to be a really difficult race. I couldn’t even keep them close to me because I couldn’t get in the corner and I couldn’t get out of the corners. Quite early on I had a moment on the front-end and that hadn’t happened all weekend. After that I just couldn’t push and I just stayed at the same pace. I couldn’t really do more than a 31.5 and it didn’t matter what I did I kept falling back. Right at the end I could see de Puniet was running into a few problems with his rear tyre and I was slowly reeling him back in. I managed to pass him and make it stick. It is severely disappointing because I really believed that I could run up close to the podium today. I was riding really hard so to finish eighth is frustrating. I felt like I was on the absolute limit at the pace I was running and it wasn’t good enough. This isn’t the way I wanted to celebrate my 100th Grand Prix, but congratulations to James. He rode a great race and I’ll be looking for a lot more in Malaysia.
Randy De Puniet - 9th:
We could finish in a better position but after five laps I got stocked behind Colin and could not pass him for 8 laps. Then, when I caught him, the gap to the front was to wide and tried to keep my rhythm. At the end Colin overtook me in the straight at 2 laps to go. Anyway I am pretty satisfied about the job we made during the whole week end because the overall package was good and we had the chance to fight for the top five positions.
Loris Capirossi - 10th:
It has been a really hard day for us because we really struggle with the bike here at Phillip Island. Overall, set-up and the tyres were working well right up to the last part of the race, but I hard to push really hard to keep up with the other guys, and also as you could see our bike wasn’t really fast enough on the straight. We have to continue to work hard and keep developing the bike, we still have two races left and we have to do our best in them. Everybody is 100% committed to Suzuki and we know we have a long winter of testing to get the best from the bike that we can for next year. Everybody knows we are a still a bit behind and we have to work as hard as we can to improve our whole package.
Toni Elias – 11th:
We maintained yesterday’s handicap with the tyres. It was really hard. In addition I didn’t start too well and this complicated even more the situation. After a few laps I made it to find back yesterday’s rhythm that allowed me to gain back some time. If I had one more lap I would have probably had the opportunity to overtake at least a couple of riders that were in front of me. It’s a pity. I will try to make it up in Malaysia on a track that I really like.
Anthony West - 12th:
I arrived at Phillip Island determined to put in a good performance in front of my home crowd this weekend, but the traction problems we had throughout practice and qualifying put paid to that. On the opening lap I could see Marco Melandri ahead of me, so I thought I’d give him a good look at the bike he'll be riding next year - from the rear, obviously. The traction problems meant I was sideways on the gas right from the start, but by just holding it wide open, letting the rear spin up and using my bodyweight to steer the bike, I was actually able to drive it out of the corners pretty good. After Marco the next target was John. I could see he was struggling for drive out of the turns even more than me, so it was just a case of closing the gap and choosing my moment. Fair play to John though; he kept me honest by pushing me all the way to the end. I thought he might try something on the last lap, but I'm glad he didn't because I wasn't going to let him get away with that! It wasn't the result I was hoping for this weekend, but I'm happy I did the best I could with what we had to work with.
John Hopkins - 13th:
At the start of the race I was just dodging and weaving my way around all of the crashes, but we managed to make up quite a few places by going around the outside of some of the other riders in the opening laps. I settled into a rhythm and tried to keep in touch with the group ahead, but a few laps in I lost the front at Honda corner and ran wide, which cost me a few positions. It was then basically a race with Anthony (West), and we did the best we could with what we had. He just had a little more drive out of the turns and was able to stay ahead, but we were both particularly struggling on the final turn of the circuit. I could see that Chris Vermeulen was catching us towards the end of the race, so we just pushed as hard as we could to maintain our position. I'm looking forward to the next round because we had a positive pre-season test at the Sepang circuit, and hopefully we can gain a better result there.
Sylvain Guintoli – 14th:
I had a lot of pain today and I didn’t know if I would have make it to finish the race. Then, in the second corner, I made a mistake due to some confusion on track: I went long losing a lot of time. Together with Vermeulen, who also went off track, we made it to maintain a good rhythm gaining back a lot of time. I knew that on the final straight my Ducati was really fast and therefore I decided to attack in the last lap to gain a position. I made it and for how this weekend went I can consider my self satisfied with the final position.
Chris Vermeulen - 15th:
I made a good start from a not so good grid position and had a strong first couple of turns. Then I got pushed wide by the domino effect of the crash, and although I thought I could still make it, there was nowhere to go and I had to run off. I lost a lot of time and just put my head down to try and catch the other riders and get into the points. The bike worked quite well, but it is a lot down on horsepower here and it was really difficult to be competitive with the Ducati that I caught up with – it just purely had a speed advantage and I couldn’t get past and away from it. In the last five laps tyre wear was an issue and that made it even more difficult out there. I think if we’d have stayed on the track in the first lap we’d have been a lot closer to the front, but it would have still been difficult to race with our power disadvantage. We’ve got a test here tomorrow and let’s hope we’ve got some good things to try!
Marco Melandri - 16th:
It has been a really difficult weekend for us. Unfortunately we've never been able to find the right setting for the bike and some really strange crashes have set us back even more. The one form this morning left me in some pain and this made things even more complicated.
Alex De Angelis - DNF:
I’m really disappointed with today because I finally managed to get a good start and I’d made up some positions. After the first couple of corners I was following De Puniet but he made a mistake under braking and I was too close behind him to avoid him. Unfortunately I came out worse and I’m disappointed because today was a good opportunity for us to show our potential. I’m sorry for the whole team because they’ve all worked so well here, making constant improvements in every session.
Dani Pedrosa - DNF:
I got a good start and was entering the second corner in third position when the rear tyre started sliding. I tried to correct the bike but I ran off the track. On the grass I tried to correct the bike again but I crashed. I hurt my left knee in the fall. Fortunately I’ve not broken any bones or damaged any ligaments, but I’ve got a lot of pain and the knee is swollen. I am very disappointed because we knew we had a good race pace and I was very confident that I could score another podium, just like at Motegi last weekend. It was another bad race. I am sorry for the team, they worked hard throughout the weekend. Tonight I will fly back to Spain and rest the injury while looking forward to the Malaysia GP. Now it’s looking difficult for second place in the championship, there are only two races left.
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