With Valentino Rossi’s switch to Ducati story having momentarily died down, we can get back to what all the riders had to say regarding today’s Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic GP race.
Tomorrow all the teams will be back out on track, weather permitting, for an important one-day test before the entire circus heads to Indianapolis for the 11th round of the season in two weeks time.
Jorge Lorenzo Position – 1st“After my problems yesterday and the crash I didn’t expect this today, I thought it would be much more of a struggle.
Once I got to the front I expected Dani to come with me and I knew it was my moment and that I had to push as much as possible.
I thought he would try to overtake me but I felt good, pushed hard and little by little I was able to lose him.
I know I said I was riding for the championship now and that’s still true but when there’s the chance to win I have to take it! To take my seventh win in one season is fantastic, thank you to all of my team for such a good job after we had difficulties yesterday.
Tomorrow we have an important test which we hope will help us in the last part of the championship and then we go to Indianapolis, a track that I love.
” Dani Pedrosa – 2nd“It’s good to be back on the podium after the crash at the last race at Laguna Seca so I’m happy about this.
My start was good and I was in first place through the first corner but in the first left-hander I was a little bit too concerned about my tyre temperature and braked too early, which allowed Ben and Jorge to get past.
When I was in second place behind Jorge again I was trying as hard as possible to stay close, which I could do for a few laps, but for some reason I wasn’t quite able to go as fast as yesterday – I had quite a lot of wheelspin and was struggling to get good drive out of the corners.
I tried to adjust my riding to improve this but Jorge was gradually able to open the gap.
So today wasn’t the best result for us, but still the podium is ok and we can build on this result.
After the test tomorrow we go to Indianapolis and I was strong there last year – despite the mistake in the race – so I’m confident we can be competitive again at the next race.
” Casey Stoner – 3rd“To be honest I can’t be completely happy with this result, even though it is always good to be on the podium.
Towards the end of qualifying yesterday we thought we had found a good way forward with the setting but we needed to finalise it in the warm-up this morning and we didn’t get chance because of the rain.
I was struggling with the front for the first few laps and lost too much ground on the two leaders.
It looked like there were other guys having similar problems to me and I saw Dovi crash right in front of me.
Things improved towards the end but I was too far from Dani and Jorge to trouble them.
We have work to do but we’re not too far off and I am desperate to fight for victories again – for myself and for Ducati.
Ben Spies – 4th“I got a good start and was staying right with Jorge and Dani for a few laps and had a comfortable pace.
But after about lap seven I starting having problems with the front that I hadn’t experienced all weekend.
It’s a shame because while I know I definitely didn’t have anything to fight Jorge with because he is riding so well, maybe I could have stayed close to Dani.
I’m not saying I’d have beaten him but I’d have been closer to put up a challenge.
I had one second on Casey when I started having the problems but I had to slow my pace quite a bit and that was a bit frustrating because it meant he caught me quite quickly.
I couldn’t run his speed so when he passed me I didn’t worry about trying to run with him.
I’m not upset though because without that small problem I could have easily battled for the podium.
I’d have loved the podium to give me a big lift before going home to Indianapolis, but I’m really happy with my recent performances and once again I was the top satellite team rider and I can’t be unhappy with fourth place.
”Valentino Rossi Position – 5th “We are really disappointed tonight because we had hoped to do a good race and I was confident that I could challenge at the front today.
It seemed everything was right and yesterday we had a good pace but today we just weren’t as fast and I couldn’t stay with the leaders.
We are sad but tomorrow we will have the chance to test and try to understand what went wrong today, which will help us to be in better shape in Indianapolis.
As for my future, you will know something at 6pm today.
”Nicky Hayden- 6thTaking everything into consideration I have to be happy with sixth place – our pace wasn’t bad and looking at the lap times I could have maybe been fighting for a higher position if I was fully fit.
When Valentino passed me I managed to stay with him for a while but couldn’t hang on and just had to focus on keeping a pace that allowed me to bring some good points home.
I want to thank the team because they made some changes to the bike to give me better grip in the left-hand corners and it worked.
Once the race started and the adrenaline kicked in I couldn’t really feel the pain in my hand but I suddenly started to feel it as soon as I crossed the line.
The thing I’m most worried aboutis if I can test tomorrow because it’s going to be a really important session for us.
”Colin Edwards – 7th“I gave it everything I had and I can’t be disappointed with the way I rode.
I thought it was going to be a good race because I’d been strong all weekend and really happy with the new front-end geometry setting that had helped the bike turn much better.
And when I got a good start I felt confident that I could challenge for my first top six of the season.
But in the race I didn’t have the same feeling with the front tyre and I don’t think I was the only one that had a small issue.
When I tried to push a bit harder I had a moment and I lost contact with Valentino and Nicky in front of me.
I took some risks to keep close to them but there was nothing I could do.
Seventh is not a great result but it’s better than where I have been finishing and hopefully we can make some more progress in Indianapolis and be closer to the front.
”Marco Melandri – 8thAfter a weekend to forget we had a decent race.
The last part of it was good although the start wasn’t so positive for me.
We struggled a lot on fresh tyres and I couldn’t match the pace of the group in front of me, so I lost a lot of ground there.
Then as the fuel load lightened and the tyres came up to temperature it worked more in my favour.
It was less difficult to ride the bike and I felt more comfortable.
I’m still not completely happy though because I’m still having a lot of problems with the electronics and that makes it difficult for me to overtake.
We need to work a lot and with more help from Honda I’m sure we can take a step forward tomorrow.
”Hector Barbera – 9th“It rained in the warmup and I didn’t have enough time to do a practice start.
I began the race with a new clutch, in order to avoid a repeat of what happened at Laguna Seca when I used an old one.
I got off the line really badly and nearly dropped back to last place, but with a bit of patience I was able to get my bearings back and start the comeback.
With the pace that I had by the looks of the timesheets, I could have caught Edwards at the end.
It is positive to see that we are improving our pace little-by-little, but we have to learn to make the most of the opening laps because they are normally the key to the race.
The team are really supporting me and we are working well –I am happy- but we have to develop with every race.
I am finding top form and the series is heading to a run of races at traces that I like, so we have to make the most of them the best that we can.
We are testing here tomorrow and the time will be fundamental for our next race, so we have to work hard.
”Randy dePuniet – 10thThis is simply great! I could not expect such a positive week end.
Just three weeks after my injury I was back on my bike and could fight for the top ten.
I want to thank the doctors, my family and my friends and of course the Team because they helped me to get this incredible result.
I could also fight for the eight position but I lost some tenths behind Melandri but in this condition it was pretty hard to overtake the others.
Then I passed Melandri and started to be faster and together with Barbera we caught Simoncelli.
At 7 laps to go they both passed me as I was completely exhausted.
I really dug deep in my reserves to finish this race and I am very happy about my performance.
Now I will have almost 2 weeks to complete my recovery and hopefully we can obtain another positive result in Indianapolis”.
Marco Simoncelli – 11th“I’m not satisfied with the race today.
We made some changes to the bike compared to yesterday but we weren’t able to test them out in the warm-up this morning because of the damp track.
I felt pretty good at the start of the race but then as the laps went by I lost consistency.
The front closed on me a few times and I had to back off.
I still thought I could lap in the mid 1’59s but in the second half of the race the bike got worse and I couldn’t get the power down in fourth, fifth and sixth gear so the group behind were able to catch and pass me as if I was on a bike from a different category.
Now we need to work out what happened.
Obviously I’m disappointed because ten laps into the race I thought I was good for eighth place.
”Aleix Espargaro – 12th“The bike was much better than during yesterday’s qualifying, I could be much faster and closer to other riders.
In the warm up this morning we have developed with the Team a good setting that allowed me to enter the turns in the best way, with a similar speed of my colleagues.
I had a very good start today, I was in the eleventh position after eight laps and I was very close to the group that was fighting for the eighth position.
Unfortunately my forearm has hardened too much and did not allow me to ride in the best way.
After two weeks of break this can happen.
It was important for me to finish the race after three consecutive falls, I hope that from here I’ll start to get good results for the rest of the season.
”Alex de Angelis – 13th “The race started quite well, I was fast and I could stay with the group.
Then Espargaro pushed me aside and I had to go wide and finished in the grass.
I lost some positions.
It was hard to fight back, but I could manage it.
Then the bike started shaking really hard and I rode to the grass again.
I lost the connection and had to ride alone and I could not catch up again.
I am really sorry for this result, as I know it could have been much better today.
The direction the team changed the bike in is the right direction, but unfortunately I could not show it with a better result.
”Loris Capirossi – DNF“I am so upset by today’s race because I know I could have had a good result here.
I got hit on the first lap by another rider and that pushed my clutch lever right up, so I had to hit it to get it into place and by the time I had done that I was last.
I easily passed four riders and I felt my pace was very fast, but then in turn 12 of the second lap I lost the front and crashed.
I don’t know what happened because I wasn’t braking and I didn’t turn in too quickly, I just lost grip and went into the gravel.
I am sorry for the whole team because they are working so hard and getting nothing.
This has not been the weekend we wanted or deserved, so we will need to start work again tomorrow in the test and see if we can start to turn things around – the potential was really good today.
”Álvaro Bautista – DNF“The crash was a big disappointment for me as I went to overtake Simoncelli, because at the beginning of race I didn’t know what my condition would be at the end and I was pleased that I felt strong enough to make the move.
The first few laps were difficult because I’d only had about 40 minutes of dry practice all weekend and needed to get my reference points sorted out.
The pain was horrible but I was able to start to push and in the middle of the race I was in the group challenging for eighth position, which was not too bad.
After about half of the race my body started to tire and although I was pushing to the maximum, when I came up to other riders it was difficult to pass because I was at my physical limit.
I would have liked to finish this race as this is now three consecutive races that I have failed to complete.
The rest of the race was not too bad and compared to other riders my rhythm was good.
I hope for the next race in America to make a complete weekend and continue with my progression in MotoGP.
” Andrea Dovizioso – DNF“I recovered a couple of positions at the start and in the first few laps I didn’t want to lose contact with the riders in front so I was really pushing as hard as possible.
Already in a few corners I had some warnings from the front and then it went in turn nine.
It’s a pity – I made a mistake and it cost me dear because the 1m 58.
0s pace that the lead bunch were running was one that I could also have maintained today.
During the whole weekend we’ve been at the limit with the front end and today the strong wind made it worse.
We needed a good result here so it’s disappointing.
When I was in the middle of the track it was pretty scary because the riders behind were going either side of me, so actually I was lucky that the consequences weren’t worse.
We have a test tomorrow and then we’ll have to try to bounce back well in Indianapolis.
” Mika Kallio – DNF“I feel sorry because I haven’t finish this race.
During this morning warm up I had gain a very good fifth best lap and this has give us good feelings for the rest of the day.
At the end of the first lap I had conquer three positions and after that I have overtaken Melandri I was thinking to have a good position in the top ten.
But when I was trying to put more distance as possible between me and the Italian rider, I had feel a problem with the front tyre during a curve and this has made me close the handle and made me slip away losing my race.
I had wish to conquer a good position on this circuit.
Now we’ll analyze all the technical data with my engineers to understand what to change in tomorrow’s test.
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