Rider impressions after Catalan race

Valentino Rossi long sleeved T-Shirt, manufactured from cotton, and uses a contrast yellow and grey panel design, with Rossi name and number 46 stitched on the chest using separate pieces of fabric.
Buy - More details
HighRevs Shop

2007-06-10 Rider impressions after Catalan race
Be first to comment this story

After another exciting race in front of Spanish fans, MotoGP riders were full of impressions about the race. For sure, most excited were front-runners, which despite hard battle had nice words for each other. Read rider claims after Catalan Grand Prix.

Casey Stoner - race winner:
Going into this weekend we weren't sure how things would go. At Mugello we had a few difficulties and we thought it might be the same here. On Friday we weren't exactly on the pace, we were losing a lot in a couple of areas. Fortunately, the team worked really hard, we came up with a solution on Saturday morning and since then we've kept the bike exactly the same. The whole team did a great job this weekend and proved wrong people who said we can't win on European tracks. There were some nice passing manoeuvres going on everywhere. All three of us had our strong points and our weak points around the circuit, I was just trying to minimise my weak points and cover my lines, and it worked out. It was such a close race, no one could go away, it was very, very enjoyable to be racing that close. It was really good because our bike was set up quite well for the braking points, so for Valentino to pass us he usually had to run wide and we were able to pass him back immediately a lot of times. The way the team has set up the bike for me is fantastic, and the Bridgestones worked great again, at a circuit where they've struggled in the past, so they've really changed things around. Today was another great race for us, I'm still not thinking about the championship, maybe later in the season we can really start aiming for that.

Valentino Rossi - 2nd:
What a race! Even if I'm disappointed not to win, it's a great emotion to be part of a race like that and fantastic fun. It really was an amazing battle to the end with many wonderful overtaking manoeuvres by both of us in all different parts of the track! Unfortunately I lost a bit of time at the start and then it was quite hard to pass Hopkins because he was fantastic on the brakes. Then with Stoner it was a great fight and honestly I couldn't have tried harder to win, but he was a very hard rival. There were some places were we could have been better today, not just on the straight but also in some corners, but anyway it was a great experience and it will help us to understand what we need to do to keep on improving. Yamaha and Michelin are working very hard and the fact that we could fight like this today to the very end showed this. Of course I'm sad because I've won a lot of times here in Montmelo and I wanted to win again, but like I said, I don't think I could have done anymore today! We know that we can beat Stoner but today he rode like a god and he's a fantastic rival, so congratulations to him.

Dani Pedrosa - 3rd:
Third is OK and I finished right with the leaders so I’m happy for that. It was difficult to keep up with Casey and Valentino, especially in the middle of the race, but with 10 laps remaining I was able to get close again. I was actually enjoying watching them because they weren’t overtaking each other in typical places and that’s why I wanted to get in there too! However, in one part of the track I was losing a lot and I needed the other part of the track to recover, so all the time I was right there with them, but I couldn’t fight with them.

John Hopkins - 4th:
I’ve got to that point where I am now disappointed not to be on the podium, obviously I’m happy to be in the top five but I want more! It was a tough race and I held in there with the first three for as long as I could, but with about eight laps to go I started to lose a bit of pace and as hard as I tried I was losing that little bit more each lap - so I had to settle for fourth place. We’re really happy with the Suzuki and Bridgestone tyre package this season and the tyres are working a lot better than they did last year - so no complaints there at all. Now we have a couple of days testing here and I am looking forward to bettering my times and then moving on to the next two tracks that I think will really suit the GSV-R800. I am sure that we will soon have a good chance of getting on the podium every weekend!

Randu De Puniet - 5th:
Even though now it is difficult for me to breath, I am really happy about what I did today. Not only because I got the best MotoGP result of my career so far, but because I did it regardless of my physical condition. I already knew it was going to be hard and the knee, the shoulder and the heat didn’t make it easy. I did a regular start and I lost a couple of positions and one more when Elias passed me after a fright in La Caixa turn. I was sixth after the first lap but I was certain my bike was much better than his. I don’t know what happened but a few laps later he touched my knee and my handlebar and, even though it didn’t take much to overtook him that made me lose contact with the front guys. I kept pushing and rode a good rhythm but they were definitely faster. We did a good job this weekend and my Ninja ZX-RR and my Bridgestone tyres worked so well today. I was completely focussed on my lap time, my braking points… At the end, Capirossi was coming closer but I managed to maintain a distance and got this fifth position that has a really good taste. I would like to thank everybody, the team, Kawasaki, Bridgestone, for helping me make this race a success. I hope that we can now build on this result.

Loris Capirossi - 6th:
I made a good start but I wasn't so fast into the first corner because I've not got good memories of turn one from last year. Anyway, at the end of the first lap I was already 11th, but after I'd passed Edwards I lost a few seconds fighting with Melandri, otherwise I could have been fifth. Anyway, 17th to sixth is not so bad, I'm not disappointed. I knew I could ride at a decent pace and if I had had a better grid position I could have gone with John [Hopkins], though maybe not with the first three. I really want to say thanks to the team because they stuck with me throughout the weekend. For warm-up we completely changed the set-up to find better traction, and we did well because the bike was better. I was very depressed after qualifying but the people around me really love me, so after an hour I was ready to fight again. We used the standard engine spec today because it's got more speed, but we will give the new spec another try at other tracks.

Chris Vermeulen - 7th:
I got a reasonable start from the fourth row, but then got boxed in a bit and dropped back a couple of places. I had a tough fight with Alex Barros early on and found it really hard to get past his Ducati - as it’s pretty quick in a straight line! I got through the field and the bike felt very good and consistent right till the end. I had a battle with Loris Capirossi on the last lap, and although I got past him he just went by me on the next straight. Seventh place from 11th is not too bad, and we now have lots of work to do in the next couple of days to make sure we are stronger for Donington!

Alex Barros - 8th:
I’m satisfied for my final result, I think I was good in this race. For us this week-end it hasn’t been very easy, we had some difficulties during the two days before the race, so this morning after the warm-up we decided to change setting but in the end we understood that it was better to come back and use the same set-up we had yesterday. Fortunately I made a good start, but at the first turn, I made a mistake and I lost some positions. Today, for me, the race was very hard, in the first part I had difficulties to recover position and in the second part I had some difficulties with the front. Unfortunately it didn’t feel as we expected and we maybe hoped for a bit more from this race; anyway, the thing that makes me satisfied is that I pushed strongly from the beginning to the end, fighting for the eighth position as if it were a podium. I have deep motivation and I hope to be faster in the next race.

Marco Melandri - 9th:
We’re going through a rough patch. The team is giving their best, working hard, but the results just aren’t coming. The bike doesn’t give me any confidence and I can’t ride it how I want. I'm really disappointed. We’ve struggled with the front-end all weekend and after a few laps I lost confidence in it. We’ll have to make some drastic changes.

Colin Edwards - 10th
Today was pretty much impossible for me; I had no grip in the rear from the start and I just couldn't get into a rhythm. Basically I couldn't load the front or turn the bike how I wanted. We've done everything this weekend, changed all the settings, springs, load etc, but we haven't been able to crack the problem. Qualifying was okay but today I just couldn't ride it. Tomorrow's our last test until after Brno and the only thing to do is use every single possible minute we have on track to get to the bottom of the problem so we're in better shape for the next few races, which are at some of my favourite tracks.

Nicky Hayden - 11th
The race was a tough one. Somewhere along the way it looks like the rear tyre became unbalanced and started to vibrate and chatter really badly – especially in the last five or ten laps, I could hardly ride it. After that I just started losing positions and it wasn’t a fun race because it was hard to tip it into any of the corners. We didn’t need that problem today so we’ll just have to look into why it happened and move on to the next one at Donington.

Alex Hofmann - 13th:
I’m not satisfied, because this race wasn’t as I had hoped for. I don’t know the real reason because after the warm-up in the morning I was confident to do a good race. When I started, I knew immediately that I didn’t have the right feeling with the bike. I did not make a good start, furthermore I lost a lot in acceleration and I couldn’t be fast as I wanted. During the race I made some overtaking, but the moves weren’t enough to obtain a good end result. I’m very displeased with the race, especially because I wanted to be good for all the many fans who came here today. Tomorrow we will spend one day more in Spain to do some tests, I hope to be able to find the right solution for the next race.

Shinya Nakano - 15th:
It was a very frustrating and difficult race for me. I said yesterday that I had a good feeling in hot conditions but we just didn’t have that today for some reason. When I pushed hard the bike would run wide in the corners. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and having more time out on the track so we’ll be working hard again to make more improvements.

Kenny Roberts - 16th:
I’d never seen them race like that at this level. It would be better if we were racing further up the field instead of where we are at the moment. It's apparent that the motor doesn’t accelerate, but then we have no grip. I think we’re learning, but it’s going to take six weeks to build something different.

Carlos Checa - 17th:
This is a difficult moment for me, I cannot remember when I had a worse feeling in a race and this is not the result I wanted. Everyone in the LCR team has worked very hard over the weekend but we could just not find the balance or feeling that gave me any confidence to push. It is not fun to race like this but now we must look forward and hope the situation can improve.

Kurtis Roberts - 18th:
I was just hung out to dry. Just sliding the thing everywhere. I knew I was catching Checa, but Kenny, when he passed me, I thought I screwed up. I didn’t even realize he was towing me along that good. But it was fun. When you watch Little Kenny, he’s Mister No Mistake and I made a lot of mistakes.

Toni Elias - DNF:
I’m really disappointed because I was having a good race. I got a good start and it looked like fifth place was a real possibility until the engine packed up on the 14th lap. I don’t know exactly what it was. These things happen in racing but I’m really disappointed because this was my home race in front of all my fans.

Back to MotoGP news home

Valentino Rossi Honda NSR500 2000

Valentino Rossi's 2000 Honda NSR500. 2000 was Rossi's very first year in the top class, which was then called 500cc instead of MotoGP. This model from Minichamps will be delayed until early 2007.
Buy - More details
HighRevs Shop