MotoGP Rd 2: Gibernau crashes, Barros/Honda win, Rossi extends title lead

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Barros celebrates after the event

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Valentino Rossi, Gauloises Yamaha Team, second in race and championship points leader: “That was a really difficult race for me. The conditions were so strange, with patches of rain here and there. In the beginning it was light rain, then it got worse and worse so that the first part of the track was very wet. It was a horrible feeling to ride with slicks in the wet. Anyway, I’m very happy to have finished in second place because we’re now 20 points ahead, and this was a very important race for us in terms of the championship. The bike still has a few problems and we have a lot of work to do. Today was a bit of miracle really, there was quite a lot of luck involved! I gradually got used to the conditions during the race but it’s not ideal to ride like that. The new wet race rules are better for TV but it’s not entirely safe, although it’s clearer now for all the riders when the race has been declared as wet. I think it’s impossible in our sport, though, to find a perfect rule for that.”

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team: “That was a race in very difficult conditions with the change from the dry to the wet. Congratulations to all the riders who finished the race. It was a good race for Yamaha; with Valentino we’ve scored 20 important points. It would have been easy to make a mistake so he did very well to keep pushing and finish in second without any problems. For Colin this was a big improvement from the last race, we fixed some problems after the last test in Jerez and he quickly found a good base here. He made a small mistake but he was able to recover and finish still in a good position. It was an encouraging race for him and I hope this is the start of a good season.”

Max Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team, third: “Someone has certainly said that today Max Biaggi is there. Let me tell you: Max Biaggi has always been there. But today we also had a good bike. Even if we can do much, much better. HRC’s potential is far higher than that. Unfortunately I had to race with the second bike because bike No.1, the machine I had the better feeling with, had a technical problem. Definitely, today’s third place leaves us satisfied. I’m happy for me and especially for my team: finally I saw them smiling and I thank them all. This podium was really needed to recharge our batteries on the way to China’s GP. Our job is not done yet, but we are on the right way: the answer I was looking for is in the electronics.”

Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda, fourth: "I'm very satisfied with this result. We went out with a hard tyre and it was tough at the beginning. As the race went on I got a good rhythm together and it allowed me to stick it out with Edwards and Checa. I had a lot of confidence in the tyres and that gave me more stability. I was trying out a new helmet and it steamed up, so I had to do the last 8 laps with my visor open. It meant I couldn't go any harder at the end but I am happy."

Carlos Checa, Ducati Marlboro Team, fifth: "When you consider the things we had to carry into this weekend, with my shoulder injury and so on, to finish fifth is a positive result. With more side grip in the later laps my suspension started working better and I regained confidence. Then I was able to establish my pace. Fourth was possible but I braked quite hard passing Melandri and ran wide. The most difficult thing today was to see the flags signalling rain when I was on slicks at 300kmh. That was really scary!"

Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP Project Manager: "So finally we saw how the new flag-to-flag rules were in a race. That was a typical situation in which it was difficult to make a decision, as it was tough to see how hard the rain was coming but in the end it all worked out. If they had stopped the race I think it would not have been any different. In terms of the result we are more or less happy. Considering everything Carlos had a good fight and he took fifth place from really nothing. Loris, we have to remember, is still injured. So both riders finished with points, both in the top ten. Thanks to all our technical partners, especially Shell Advance and Bridgestone."

Colin Edwards, Gauloises Yamaha Team, sixth: “That was a good race although of course I am disappointed about falling. The bike felt completely different from the Jerez race and I felt like I could have kept pace with Rossi and Barros quite easily. Unfortunately I was fighting with Melandri and for the first half of the race I just couldn’t make the pass stick on him; gradually the leaders just edged away. Finally I got away from him and I was pushing in order to keep a space between us, but I hit that slippery patch at turn one and went down, it just caught me off guard! Everywhere else on the track was okay and you could get the bike fully leaned over, but turn one was just like ice. It was my mistake and I’m annoyed, but the rest of the race was really encouraging and a big improvement.”

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team, seventh: “I’m not very happy about the race at all or the way the whole weekend went really. We didn’t seem to click all weekend and I never felt 100% comfortable on the bike. I got good drive at the start but lost places on the first turn. During the first few laps, when the tyres and the track was good, I was making progress. Then things just seemed to go off and I went backwards. It’s difficult to describe how wet the track was in parts. I just wanted to hang on, get some experience and get some points. There are a lotta’ races left and we’ve gotta’ lot of racing left to do.”

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