MotoGP Qatar: Rossi’s tenth victory secures team title for Gauloises Yamaha

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MotoGP Qatar: Rossi’s tenth victory secures team title for Gauloises Yamaha

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Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1st:“What a race! For me that was the best of the season, it was so much fun. I had bad memories from this circuit from last year so I really wanted to win and after practice yesterday I knew it was not impossible. I had two great rivals and all three of us showed that we were in very good shape until the end. We gave more than 100% and had a fantastic battle from the beginning to the end. I have to thank Yamaha and my whole team because my bike was very fast over the final few laps, which it needed to be because Marco Melandri was very strong and we had a great battle. He tried to pass me on the last lap but I was able to hold on and win – my tenth of the season. I am very, very happy.” Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha team Director: “Today we saw a fantastic race, scored another victory and won another title so of course we are delighted. Valentino clearly wanted to win the race after what happened last year and he came out on top of another incredible battle, so congratulations to him. Colin finished in fourth place, which is not what he had hoped for, but he scored some important points and closed the gap to second in the championship so we are happy for him. The team have worked extremely well since Thursday, finding the right set-up for both bikes early in the weekend and then just fine-tuning for the race. We’ve won the Teams’ Championship today and both riders have contributed to this, so congratulations to everybody. Both Valentino and Colin like Phillip Island so now we all looking forward to going to Australia in two weeks.”

Marco Melandri, MoviStar Honda, 2nd: “ That was the best race of the season for me. I felt good after practice yesterday, the bike was ready and we did a great job with Michelin. I didn’t get a good start in the race, took it calmly for the first few laps and lost a bit of time as I made up the positions. I passed Edwards and Hayden to catch up with the leaders, the bike was running perfectly and my only thought was to finish on the podium. I tried to pass Valentino on the last lap but I made a mistake and ran of the track. Despite that it was an incredible race and I’m really pleased to be back on the podium after a tough couple of weeks with the injury. Now I’m third in the championship and the fight for second is still on.”

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda, 3rd: “I’m so happy to be to be on the podium today. Before the race things weren’t going to plan. In the morning warm-up we were so slow and were in real trouble. My guys made some changes and I have to be real grateful to them as they got it right and that’s why I got third. The bike was so much better in the race than it had been all weekend - so much faster. The Michelins were brilliant - so much grip! I got an awesome start. In turn one my buddy Sete ran into the back of me again but I stayed on. In the race I just hung on in there. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it back but I’m here. I was pushing so hard to stay with the lead group and there were some pretty scary moments. It wasn’t pretty with Sete running off but I’ll take the result the way the weekend was going.”

Colin Edwards, Yamaha, 4th: “I felt we had the pace yesterday but we were looking for a little bit more rear grip to take that extra step and went with a different tyre this morning. It was the same as the other guys were using but my bike was set up around the tyre we had yesterday and I couldn’t turn the thing. It was pushing the front a lot in the corners and I kept having to run it straight. We need to figure out why that was and take the lesson to Phillip Island in a couple of weeks. I’m disappointed for my team today because I was confident I could be up there fighting for the win and in the end it just didn’t happen. On the up-side, my points today contributed to the teams’ championship, so that’s a good thing to take away from here.” Sete Gibernau, MoviStar Honda, 5th: "Once again we've had a great race without the final result we deserved. I led the race until Marco came in a little aggressive and I had to run off my line. But it's no use complaining; we're doing some things well and some things badly. We're leading races regularly but for one reason or another we haven't been able to finish them off. But we can't keep talking about bad luck - the unlucky guy is the one who never gets to run at the front at all. I still think things will change." Carlos Checa, Ducati, sixth: “Maybe the result isn't that great but I think we can be happy because we've done a good job here. When we came here in March we had front tyre wear problems, so Bridgestone have made a big step forward here and I know they'll improve again. I used a different rear from what I used in warm-up, I chose something harder for the race. That's why I couldn't push so hard early on but it allowed me to run a good, consistent pace later on"

Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli: " Today could've been better and it could've been worse. We knew that this wasn't going to be our race but we have to say that we are very satisfied with the overall result of these last three overseas GPs. We have to be optimistic, because if we can learn something from today then all the effort will have been worth it. To be honest, we had trouble with rear grip earlier than I'd expected. But our thanks, as always, to Bridgestone and to Shell Advance for all their help during this great run of 'flyaway' races."

Shinya Nakano, Kawasaki, 7th: "I'm happy to finish a race after the problems of the past two weeks. Seventh is okay, I had expected to be closer to the front group, but it wasn't possible today. Once I got behind Checa we had a great race, but I could only follow him, we had the same tyres and the same lap times - it wasn't possible to pass. The Bridgestone tyres were consistent today and the increased top speed of the latest ZX-RR motor a big help. But we still need more acceleration to race the front group. My start was normal but many riders went to the inside, and Rolfo was very strong on the brakes, and we almost touched. I didn't want to take a risk and crash, I wanted to finish this race."

Ichiro Yoda, Kawasaki Technical Manager: "These very hot conditions made this a very tough race for Kawasaki. I'm happy for seventh but also a little disappointed, we anticipated being closer to the front group today. The upgraded motor was a step forward, but we still need to work on controllability and acceleration."

Harald Eckl, Kawasaki Team Manager: "Shinya rode another very consistent race today and seventh is about the level of the our ZX-RR package at the moment. It was very important for the team to finish this race in the top ten and Shinya delivered for us, as he always does when given the opportunity. Keeping Shinya in the top ten of the championship points is now our priority for the remainder of the season."

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