Italian MotoGP - Italian tour de force
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Image Gallery ( 24 images )Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director: “Another 25 points and another win! Of course, being an Italian team this is more special for us and to see all the fans from up on the podium was incredible. To win four of the first five races is a lot and, as Valentino said, it is a sign of the great job we are doing. Gibernau and Biaggi have both been in good shape to win races but they haven’t been able to and we are proving very hard to beat. But there are 12 races left and we have to keep our concentration. Colin has had a difficult weekend but we will aim to get him back on the right path for Catalunya to find again the level of result he achieved in Le Mans.”
Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team, second: “Great race. I’m super happy with the result. We come out from a terrible situation in the best way: stepping on the podium and, more than everything, fighting for the win. We almost made it. HRC Team did a very good job and I thank them all: mechanics, suspensions’ guys, tyre people, engineers and, of course, Erv. Thanks to this job the bike was working well immediately, since Friday practice. Now we must keep this pace. I’m not thinking about the championship, I prefer to fight race by race.”
Loris Capirossi Ducati MotoGP, third place: "Ducati arrived in a good position today and we can expect better and better from now on. The race seemed more like a 125 race, I was even looking at the giant TV screens to see what was going on, but everyone rode very correctly. The team worked well all weekend to get the best settings and we also worked really well with Bridgestone, the bike was perfect. After warm-up we chose a slightly harder tyre, which is why I wasn't so fast early on, but I got better. Also, I have changed my riding style to look after the tyres. Normally I am on or off with the throttle, but now I am trying to be smoother. I'm so happy for the team, especially after our unlucky start to the year. Thanks also to my fans, there were a lot of people cheering for me which gives me a lot of emotion."
Federico Minoli, Ducati Motor President: "I think this race shows that the Ducati Marlboro Team is back! It was a fantastic race, with Loris close to the front all the way to the flag. As fans of racing, we were jumping all over the place as he fought with Melandri during the final laps. I think we really deserved this result, but we still need a little more to get in front, we just need to open the door a bit more. Congratulations to Loris and Carlos, who also rode a good race, and I'd like to say that I'm very happy that Livio can now shave off his beard!" (Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo had recently vowed not to shave until the team made it back onto the podium.)"
Marco Melandri, Motivstar Honda MotoGP, fourth: “That was an incredible race – probably my best of the season. I pushed to the limit from the start to try and stay with the lead group and even though I was losing out a little in the fast sections I was able to make it up in the slower chicanes. I almost crashed five laps from the end and had to lower my rhythm a little. The fight with Capirossi was amazing – I could hear the crowd cheering and I wanted to do my best. We arrived in the final corner together and I am happy with fourth place. I feel good riding on the limit and I hope we can continue improving in Barcelona next week.”
Carlos Checa, Ducati MotoGP, fifth place: "Overall I'm quite satisfied because Loris and I were third and fifth, and not so far behind the winner. This is by far our best weekend of the year, and after two DNFs from the last two races I feel like I've learned a lot about the bike. I wasn't 100 per cent comfortable early on, I didn't have the grip to put the bike on its side and it was also moving around on acceleration. But as the fuel load went down I could keep a better rolling speed into the corners and ride more smoothly. Tomorrow we stay to test here, we have a few settings ideas to try out and we're also going to try and improve my performance on qualifying tyres."
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team, sixth: “A tough race. I didn’t get the best of starts but when I actually got going we managed some pretty good lap times. I got past a few guys and had a pretty good rhythm going but we were just missing a little something - the bit we needed to get onto the next group. Me and Checa had a good race – I really wanted to beat him but it wasn’t to be. On the positive side it’s the closest I’ve been to the leaders in terms of time all season and by quite some margin so it give the whole team some cause for optimism. Obviously not thrilled about sixth. We gave it our best today and we’ll come back fighting in Barcelona next week.”
Alex Barros, Camel Honda, 7th: “I didn’t have the best start, well, not a ‘super’ one anyway, it wasn’t too bad. What I really missed was a good grid slot because with the race rhythm as expected, in the 1’51s, I also kept that kind of pace. I’m happy about that but I need to improve in qualifying because if I had have started further forward I would have been fighting for the podium. Anyway, I’m happy that physically I’m okay, after two days of pushing hard here, and that I’m ready for Barcelona”.
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