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Ducati Corse Racing Cap 
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Troy Bayliss Ducati 999 F06 
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Ducati Corse T-Shirt 
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Dani Pedrosa Blue T-Shirt 
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Casey Stoner Honda RC211V 2006 
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2008-04-13 Rider impressions after Estoril race
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 We all know that it was matter of time when Jorge Lorenzo will win his first MotoGP race, but as much as we expected it, the way he did it has touched all of us in a different way. If this had such influence on us, spectators and fans of the MotoGP, you may imagine amount of feelings that victory of Jorge Lorenzo caused in his competitors. Read their thoughts after the race.
Jorge Lorenzo - 1st - 45:53.089
I feel like I’m in heaven! First of all I have to say thank you to Yamaha and to Fiat because without their confidence in me I wouldn’t be here now. I can’t believe it and it’s really impossible for me to describe my feelings, I’m so happy for everyone! My team did a fantastic job and my Yamaha and my Michelin tyres worked very, very well today. The start of the race was quite crazy because there were some drops of rain and it looked like it might get worse. Anyway I just carried on and really I can’t remember the details of exactly what happened…I remember making my pass on Valentino; I know it was quite a risk so I’m sorry to him but at that point I felt that I could make it and get away from him, so I took the chance and it worked. I’m so proud of everyone, to be here after just three races and at the top of the championship as well is something that I could never have even dreamed of. We can’t afford to relax now however because Pedrosa and Rossi are here as well and they are two very fast and clever riders. I had some pain again in my arms today so tonight we will make a decision about whether or not I will have the operation before China, but for now I’m just going to enjoy this moment!
Dani Pedrosa - 2nd:
After our difficult pre-season it’s good to be in this position now, so we are very happy. Today was a good race, the beginning was quite fun, but also a little dangerous because it was raining a bit. When the rain stopped, the pace got faster and faster, so we had to concentrate very hard to maintain tyre grip all the time. Eventually we finished second and we’re happy. When Lorenzo started pulling away I still had to pass Rossi, then when I did pass Rossi, Lorenzo already had a gap. I tried to close the gap, or at least maintain it. Finally we got second and it’s a good result.
Valentino Rossi - 3rd:
At the end of the day this isn’t a bad result for us because we expected this to be quite a difficult track for us. My M1 worked well today; I got a good start and was able to stay at the front to begin with and have some fun. My Bridgestone tyres were working well but I was thinking about trying to conserve them as much as possible because I knew 28 laps was going to be hard. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa in the later stages and I started to slide a little bit, but anyway to have two podiums in a row with Bridgestone is very important because we’re still in the learning stages of our relationship. I think we’ve made another step forward this weekend and we have an important test tomorrow – I hope in China we will be able to fight for the win!
Colin Edwards - 4th:
When you are sitting on the grid with big rain spots on the visor, it is the worst feeling because you just don’t know what to expect. I actually got a good start but then somebody was out of the seat in turn one in front of me and then somebody else did the same at the second corner. I thought, ‘it must be real slick because of the rain.’ And it was a bit like being on ice. I just got my head down but it seemed they were just driving away from me. I was on it and the electronics were kicking in and working but I wasn’t really going anywhere. Basically I couldn’t build any heat in the tyre early on. Running that different tyre from Michelin for acceleration grip instead of maximum corner speed, for those conditions it didn’t really work. Had it been dry from the start we’d have been good to fight for the podium. But with a bit of moisture I couldn’t get any heat in the side of the tyre and no edge grip in the middle of the corner. Once I got heat into it I was motoring, which proved had it been dry, I’d gone for a good direction with Michelin.
I wanted to be on the podium but I’ll settle for fourth. It’ something to build on and now we have got the new engine we can look forward with a lot of confidence. It was my best result for a long time so thanks to Tech 3 Yamaha and Michelin for that.
John Hopkins - 5th:
I'm really pleased as my aim was for a top five finish today. I got a really good start and the first lap was quite frantic as I went around the outside of a few riders, before settling into a rhythm with the leading pack. There was a bit of rain to contend with in the opening laps and I made some small mistakes, which caused me to drop back a little. Around halfway, the grip level dropped but I raced as hard as possible as Casey Stoner was closing the gap between us. Our main area to improve on is qualifying, as we keep giving ourselves a lot of work to do in the race by having a poor grid position. I'm looking forward to Shanghai: the Kawasaki will be better suited to it and we can hopefully achieve an even stronger result there.
Casey Stoner - 6th:
It was incredible what happened today, we had a problem which was no fault of the bike from the beginning of the race. I didn't understand what was going on and wasn't sure if an important part of the bike was involved. It was a major distraction. Sometimes the piece would lock the steering and sometimes it locked the clutch lever. It was a very difficult situation but eventually I worked out a way to ride around it. Every time I came down the straight I pushed it back into place but the turbulence from the wind would blow it back out again so it was very frustrating. I think a better result for sure was possible without this but we have to take this as a positive thing and not reflect on the negatives. It wasn't a good weekend for us but the problem in the race was not a general fault with the bike, just one of those things that happens from time to time. We need to continue working hard in China, a track that should be a little better for us, and hope for a bit more luck.
James Toseland - 7th:
It is another solid finish and I’ve moved into fifth in the championship, so I’ve got to be pleased with that. But it was a tough weekend. Losing that hour of dry set-up time on Friday was pretty crucial, but I still got a second row and top seven on a track I don’t know. Honestly though I wasn’t aggressive enough at the start. When we were coming to the grid I saw Rossi pointing to the sky but it was only spitting, and I thought they’d take it a bit easy at the start. I’d got spots of rain on my visor and those conditions are not nice and not knowing the track and a bit of inexperience with the tyres I just didn’t realise how hard you can push. But I didn’t get a great start and that lack of experience cost me because I wasn’t sure where to brake for the first corner. I braked too early and got baulked. I got into a consistent pace and was running 38s but losing that hour on the first day meant the set-up wasn’t spot on. It wasn’t bad but it could have been better. The rear shock was too soft under acceleration and pumping. So when I opened the throttle that pumping just ran me a bit wide on the exit. The package I have got now with the new engine is better than that, and that’s what makes it frustrating. I’m not as happy with this as my other results because the bike is capable of more. It was another good day for the Tech 3 team and Michelin so I’ll be looking to get closer to the front in China.
Chris Vermeulen - 8th:
I made a good start from the fifth row and picked up some places in the first couple of corners. It was spitting with rain a bit at the start so it made it difficult to judge how hard to push. I got into a good position and had a battle with Stoner, Toseland and de Puniet for quite a long while in the race. Towards the end we started to get a bit of front end vibration and that caused me to slow down a bit, but it is the closest we have been to the front this year and we must keep making progress!
Loris Capirossi - 9th:
I didn’t expect such a difficult race today because we did such a good job in practice yesterday and I thought we would do much better! I was fighting a lot from the beginning for grip and I don’t know why the tyres didn’t work well, maybe it was a change in the temperature or the humidity – I just don’t know. I tried to keep a good rhythm but it was really tough out there and when the race is as difficult as that I just try to keep going and get as good a result as possible, which is what I did today. I am obviously disappointed – not just for me but for the whole team – because our target is much bigger than what we achieved today.
Shinya Nakano - 10th:
It was a tough race because I didn’t have a good pace at the start and I lost a few positions on the opening lap. Towards the midway point I was able to improve my lap times and I tried to catch Capirossi, but I couldn’t get past him. Obviously I’m disappointed with this result because on Friday we had a good couple of practice sessions and yesterday also went well. We made a good tyre choice and the setting was satisfactory but today I suffered some problems with the rear of the bike so we must work on the suspension to improve stability under acceleration.
Alex De Angelis - 11th:
Today was difficult for me because I ended up lapping alone after just a few laps and it’s not easy to maintain your concentration, but at the end we’ve improved on our grid position so thats good. We’re aware we’re still not at the level we showed during pre-season.
Toni Elias – 12th:
The first part of the race was hard. I couldn’t go very fast and not because of the rain on the track. When the fuel tank lost some weight, I started to sensibly improve my lap times and I was able to overtake a group of riders. This made us understand that we have too much weight in the front part of the bike. We have to improve and I hope that, thanks to tomorrow’s test, we will find some interesting solutions. The 12th position doesn’t satisfy me, but at least this time I finished in front of West and Melandri. As I said since the beginning of the season, we have to take one step at a time.
Marco Melandri - 13th:
The result in the race is a direct reflection of a difficult weekend, during which we've been unable to find a satisfactory set-up for the bike. All I can do is wait and hope that this proves to be the second of the two worst races for us this season and that things start to be more favourable from China onwards.
Sylvain Guintoli – 14th:
Surely, having seen the warm up times, we hoped to find a wet track for the race as well in order to be more competitive. But it didn’t happen, and the sun dried up the circuit. But, of course, we don’t have to depend on the weather conditions and we have to find a good solution for dry tracks too. In fact, also thanks to the laps done today, we have obtained some interesting information. We hope this information will be helpful for the next grand prix.
Randy De Puniet - 15th:
I am very disappointed! After my third bad start of the season I knew I could go faster and catch the first five positions so I began to lap consistently fast. The bike set-up and the tyres were pretty good therefore I felt comfortable for the rest of the race and was able to pass several riders. Then, in the second-last lap at turn four, I lost the front. I went out in the gravel but was able to rejoin the race getting 15th. Anyway I want to thank my team for the great work they did in this weekend.
Anthony West - 16th:
What can I say about today that the result doesn't already say for me? It would be easy to say I'm disappointed but, if I'm completely honest, the main feeling is one of intense frustration. I just can't seem to get the bike to work for me; all weekend it's felt nervous and it's constantly moving around. I can ride round the problems on the straights and into the turns but I'm losing massive amounts of time on the exit, where the bike feels like it's going to throw me off if I so much as touch the throttle. John doesn't seem to have the same problem, which just makes it doubly frustrating. We'll aim to find a solution during testing tomorrow, because I'm not here to run around at the back of the field.
Nicky Hayden (DNF):
The first few laps were certainly not easy, some parts of the track were a little wetter than others and I had on a pretty hard tyre. I got settled in, and the warmer I was getting the tyres the better they were working and I was able to start moving up, so things were feeling pretty good. You know, I got fourth place at Jerez and I certainly didn’t want to settle in there and ride around, so I had to push hard and you know when you push hard you make mistakes. It’s not a parade you can’t just cruise around. It’s unfortunate because the bike was working good and we were hungry for a good result, so my own mistake. We just have to step it up a bit.
Andread Dovizioso (DNF):
I did a very good race and this makes me happy. I was able to maintain an astonishing rhythm and was half a second under my pace from the practice sessions. I never give up, as I want to try to stay with the lead group and get a good result for the team and myself. My performances are improving, not only at the start of the weekend but also in the race. To be behind the top three riders was a great experience and I understood and learned a lot of things. The crash was only because I was pushing at the very maximum, entering the corner so very hard and so I lost grip at the front. With my performance I don't think I can blame myself, these things happen.
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Colin Edwards 2006 Yamaha YZR-M1 
Replica of Colin Edwards 2006 Moto GP Yamaha YZR-M1. Due to licencing issues, this model has been released without the Team logo and the logo of the bike lean over on its side.
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