Grand Prix 2000 - Round 8 - Assen

ALEX CRIVILLÉ 2nd "This result is so important for the championship. I can't remember a season like this. It seems to rain at every race! This was a difficult week-end for me. After my Mugello and Catalunya crashes I had to be careful and avoid any further mistakes. Winning today was very difficult because of the conditions. I tried to get away about five laps from the end but I nearly crashed when I attempted to get clear. So then I thought it was better to play it safe. I won the second race at least! We're in good shape now and there's still half of the season to go. And as we saw today with what happened to Kenny Roberts, the championship can change very suddenly."

MAX BIAGGI - 4th - “Both parts were good for me apart from the starts, but the result was good in the end,”said Biaggi. “I was going well in the dry first race and doing fast times. Unfortunately they take the positions from the lap before a race is stopped, as I’d made up a lot of time on the fourth lap. It was still damp for the second start but we made an excellent tyre choice. I enjoyed the race a lot – I felt good and the bike was working well. I had a couple of hairy moments as the track dried and the front started pushing. On the whole, though, I’m satisfied. We’re testing this week and we hope to make more progress with the bike.”

CARLOS CHECA - 5th - “It was a difficult race because the results were run on aggregate times from both races. I had no idea where I was. I just tried as hard as I could,” said Checa. “I chose soft slicks front and rear so I was fairly cautious at first. Then I saw Gibernau and Laconi ahead so I caught and passed them, and thought maybe I was fourth. But fifth is good anyway, especially because we’ve recovered some of the points we lost to Roberts at Barcelona. That race was like a punch in the face to me. The championship is wide open and now we’re going to Brno to make our bike even better.”

SETE GIBERNAU 7th "Today the key to winning the race was the tyre choice and I don't think I made the best one. My start at the first race was good but then at the restart, when I was leading, I was praying for it to keep raining. Even just a little rain would have helped me. Instead, the track dried out and all the riders who had chosen rear slicks finished in front of me. The positive thing to come out of this week-end is that we're clearly making progress. It's not about being able to winning two-part races, it's about being able to win every race or fight for the best positions every time".

REGIS LACONI - 8th - “In the first part I was very comfortable with the front group when I just hit one patch of water that I had not seen on the back straight and went off through the gravel and grass but stayed on. Then it was very difficult because of the weather and with ten laps to go I knew it was going to be difficult to go fast enough to catch up all the time to the leaders. It was the best I could do in the conditions but I’m happy because after eight races I’m feeling strong.”

TADAYUKI OKADA 11th "We made a wrong tyre choice. It's as simple as that. I had intermediates on. We chose them because some parts of the track still looked quite wet when the race was restarted. But the best choice today would have been a slick rear and a cut slick on the front. I'm very disappointed because I was doing well in the first part of the race. But I'm also optimistic for the next races because I now feel that we're back to the level we should be at"

NOBUATSU AOKI - 13th - "Just wrong tyre choice. That's enough. I took a chance that the rain would get more heavy, and instead the rain stopped. That meant I could only think about finishing the race, and had no chance to try and race anybody or improve my position. I'm sorry that I could not to better for the team today."

DAVID DE GEA - 14th - "In the start of the second race, it was very good for a few laps. I was feeling really happy, and thinking of a good result, because when the road was really wet my intermediate tyres worked better than the other guys on slick tyres, and I was able to pass a lot of people, including Aoki and Capirossi. Next thing the track starts to dry, and my rear started to slide a lot - within two laps they had all passed me again! After that I just went on to get the bike to the finish. It needs a lot of racing miles, and we are getting more and more knowledge for the engineers and to take the bike forward."

GARRY McCOY - 15th - “The track dried out too early after the restart for my tyre choice, just the opposite of Barcelona, so again the dice didn’t roll the right way. On the slow-down lap after the race it started raining - I needed that about 15 minutes earlier. The weather caught us out like Barcelona so we need to think about that but now I’m just looking forward to getting some dry races in the second half of the season and climbing back up the points. I’m still aiming for a top five finish in the championship.”

KENNY ROBERTS JUNIOR - DNF - "I'm pretty pleased to have walked away from that one! I thought I might get a restart after the race was stopped, and I felt I could have gone the distance - but there was no chance, so that was that. Thanks to the Clinica Mobile for checking me over real good. Now I'm leaving - home to the USA for my Grandfather's 80th birthday, then back to England for Donington Park. I'm looking forward to that race. I'll be there full strength to defend my points lead."

GARRY TAYLOR - SUZUKI GRAND PRIX TEAM MANAGER - "Today, Kenny proved why you try to build up a lead on points - so if you do have a hiccup, you can still be in front all the same. Obviously we're all unhappy about what happened. The important thing is that Kenny got away with what could have been a much worse crash, and he'll be ready for the next race. And still on top of the world."

KENNY ROBERTS SENIOR - PROTON TEAM KR OWNER - "He was going real good for a few laps in the rain, and we'd hoped to get some more - we could have had a very interesting result. Then as it got dryer and dryer he got less eager, which is understandable on the wrong tyres. So far, the new bike has been flawless - apart from that little clutch problem in Mugello it's finished not only every race but every practice session. We've got a lot of good plans for the bike later in the year - but at the moment I can't say what."

250

TOHRU UKAWA - 1st - "I am very happy. At the beginning of the race there was so much rain I just tried keep the leaders in sight. I chose a harder compound wet weather tyre and later in the race when the track started to dry this allowed me to keep pushing and win. When Anthony got to the front I was able to follow him easily and we had a good battle. He was little quicker into the corners than me but finally I got in front and just pushed until the finish. The weather was a big problem. On the grid before the start I had an intermediate tyre in the rear then looked at the sky and changed to full wet and then by the end of the race the track was starting to dry. Now I am happy because this helps my points in the championship and it is still only half way through the season."

SHINYA NAKANO - 2nd - “With the Championship so close, I didn’t want to take any risks,” said the Championship leader “I had chosen wet weather tyres but stuck with my dry setting, so when the rain came it was difficult to control the bike, but the last laps the track dried so my bike was feeling much better and I was able to decrease my lap time. For a long time I couldn’t get past Anthony (West). He was braking very hard and was riding very hard, but I really enjoyed the battle. Third position has given me the points to stay ahead in the Championship; there’s still eight races to go, but for the eight races gone, I’ve been on the podium for seven which has made it a good year.”

OLIVIER JACQUE - 3rd - “It was very tricky when the rain became stronger. It was difficult to hold the bike and I couldn’t hold the throttle fully open. At that stage Ukawa was in front of me and the rain was so hard I couldn’t see him properly. I have crashed many times at Assen and this was always on my mind; to the point that at the corner were I had my third crash I was watching so carefully I could tell the distance between every stone. I’m very glad to finish for the first time in Assen, especially under such hard conditions. Second place is a good step in the Championship, especially with the points so close and the battles so intense.”

ANTHONY WEST - 4th - "At the start I just went for it through the spray. I didn't care whether I crashed on the first lap or not because where I was on the grid was no good anyway. I just passed as many guys as I could and as the rain got worse I felt comfortable going to the front. I chose the softest compound wet rear tyre to make sure I had a lot of grip when it was raining early in the race but later when the track dried it just chewed up a bit. I really needed it to keep raining. In the last five laps half the track was dry and half was wet. On the wet part I was OK but finally Nakano got me on the dry with a lap to go. I wanted a good result and leading a race feels much better than qualifying way back in 22nd. The battle with Tohru was fun, it was hard but fairly clean and we got pretty close a couple of times but never touched. Getting my best result feels good but I want to do even better than this, I just have qualify and get up the front at the start."

Jeff Hardwick - Shell Advance Honda Team Manager - "When they really started to dice with each other I got a bit worried but it worked out ok. The last thing you want is your riders to knock each other off, but fortunately it didn’t happen. Young Westy did a fantastic job to come from 22nd on the grid. He was diving under everyone at the start and it was an amazing effort considering the conditions. Tohru also rode extremely well and is well placed in the championship. He’s only 12 points off top spot, which is not much in racing. We’re very pleased with today’s result and can go to Donington with a lot of confidence."