les réactions d apres course ( en anglais , sorry
)
CASEY STONER, winner, World Championship leader on 140 points
"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."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 6th place, 7th in World Championship on 57 points
"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."
Valentino Rossi
Position: 2nd Time: +0.069
"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."
Colin Edwards
Position: 10th Time: +35.348
"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.