2001 Grand Prix 500 - Round 10 - Brno

Rossi - 1st - "It was a very difficult, and very important race for me today. I raced at my best and I'm very happy. After my bad result at the German GP I really needed this win and now I have the same points gap over Biaggi I would have had if I had not crashed 200 metres from the finish at Mugello. I knew Biaggi would be very dangerous in the first part of the race, trying very hard to open a gap, and for that reason we tried very hard in practice to get a front row start. I pushed very hard in the first laps, after making a good start, which was much better than is usual for me. I was third in the early laps behind Kenny Roberts and Biaggi but they were very fast and on lap three Biaggi set a new lap record at 2m 01.57s. That was probably the worst moment of the race for me. But I was able to run a similar time on the following lap. Finally on lap seven, after I had already passed Roberts, I made a lap at 2m 01.46s which is a really good lap time here. But Biaggi was maintaining a very fast pace and the race was hard. My intention was to hold second place behind him and eventually, at the end of the race, try to pass him when tyre performance was very poor, because in those conditions I usually do well. But after putting in two laps a little bit slower, Biaggi tried very hard again on lap 13 and lost the front end. At that moment I had a very big advantage over the other riders, so the race was easy. The only problem I had before the end was with a Bee that got into my helmet. I saw it and opened the visor and luckily it flew away. Now my advantage is 29 points over Biaggi but we still have six races to go. We have to stay concentrated and keep working as hard as we did this weekend. I'm very happy with the way the team helped me here."

Criville - 2nd - "This is my best result of the season and I'm very, very happy, especially after my crash in Germany. After the crash I couldn't imagine me finishing on the podium here, it came at the right moment for me. It was a hard race today, and very warm. But I enjoyed it. To be here today is just fantastic. In mid-race I knew I could get on the podium. I couldn't catch Biaggi and Rossi but tried hard to catch Abe. I had to, Capirossi was coming and he's a hard man to beat. I'm now looking forward to the remaining races."

Capirossi - 3rd - "The race was very hard for me, especially after I got a good start but was hit by Van der Goorbergh and ran wide losing time. In the race I was riding well and when I saw Biaggi crash I tried hard to catch Criville and Abe. I passed Abe but when I passed Criville I selected the wrong gear which set the rear wheel spinning and he got passed me again. We have been working very hard in practice because in the last few races I was not fast. But now I have a good feeling from the front end and I can go fast when I feel confident with the front. Tohru Ukawa, Repsol YPF Honda, 5th: "We had a lot of wheel chatter problems in practice, except when using one type of rear tyre. We only had one available for practice and one for the race. The tyre got rid of most of the chatter and I was able to push much harder in the race. I'm very happy with this result."

Abe - 4th - "I used very soft tyres as if it was a qualifying session but they resisted all the race. In the last laps Alex and Loris came from behind very strongly and I lacked some grip to resist their attack. I'm happy because I made a good race although after such a long time without being in the top three it would have been nice to finish on the podium."

McCoy - 6th - "I was feeling pretty good strength-wise but it was so hot out there, I guess I'm just not used to it because I haven't been racing all the time like the other guys. I didn't feel any pain from my wrist but it's four months, back at Jerez in May, since I did a race when I was fit and it's long time not to be riding on a regular basis. My start was off the pace and I got shoved around in turn one, it just seemed like everyone was trying to get through at once and there wasn't much room, it wasn't much fun trying not to crash. Then I thought this can't go on so I passed a couple of guys under brakes and ran into (Brazilian) Alex Barros in one corner. I looked around to make sure he hadn't crashed but I couldn't stop to apologise. I probably used my rear tyre up passing guys early in the race and the grip just dropped off quicker than I thought it would and I ran out of drive coming off the turns. After the qualifying runs we did I was feeling pretty confident about the race and thought a top four result could have been possible but the bike got pretty loose and I just didn't have the drive out off the corners. I'm a bit disappointed, but Criville and Capirossi weren't that far ahead of me so I guess in the circumstances it wasn't too bad, much better than throwing it down the road, that's for sure. I had a couple of big slides that threw me out of the seat and I thought OK, just don't crash."

Checa - 7th - "We changed some engine parts for the race and the engine was sharper than usual at the bottom of the rev range. It wasn't as soft as it usually is when I started to get on the throttle, which meant I couldn't slide the rear smoothly. The tyre would slide and then start chattering, so all I could do was wait until the bike was almost upright before I got on the throttle, and that's not a fast way to ride."

Gibernau - 8th - "I think we did all we could manage, we demonstrated that we're capable of being in the leading group, but at the moment we don't have the material to be there at the end of the race. Compared with last year I was 28 seconds faster than Kenny was on basically the same bike, when he finished fourth. My race time today would have won last year by 15 seconds! I wanted to finish the race today, but it is frustrating not to have the option of trying to win."

Barros - 9th - "We had the same problem today we have had all weekend, I couldn't get the bike to turn fast enough into the corners while braking. I got a bad start and had to push hard, especially under braking and I used up too much front tyre compensating for the steering problem. I just had to settle for what I could get out of the race. I'm very disappointed."

Biaggi - 10th - "At least I managed to get the bike going to score a few points. But it's a real shame because this race could've been so good for us. I was pushing really hard and just lost the front, even though I hadn't had any earlier warnings. It's the kind of thing that can happen when you're riding on the limit. I didn't have any tactics, other than trying to run my own race because passing isn't always easy if you give up the lead. There're still six races to go, so we've got to keep looking ahead and get back up front."

Jacque - 12th - "Immediately after the start of the race there was something with the engine, it didn't seem to be producing the power it normally does. It almost felt like it was running on three cylinders or something. I was concerned it could cause me some big problems if it got worse so I rode a little on the cautious side. We're still not sure what it was. This morning we had a very good package, but we thought we could improve the chassis a little bit more, but unfortunately we went in the wrong direction. The combination of the two things made it hard to ride 100 percent."

Cardoso - 13th - "I'm deceived because I expected more, as I like this track and I have always gone well here. I could have had a better race but we had lots of setting problems all weekend. Finally we chose a very risky combination of settings but it was impossible to follow the group and after 7 laps I reduced the pace to avoid crashing."

Haslam - DNF - "I was happy with my start and comfortable with the lap times while I was behind Jacque on the Yamaha. Then I was behind Cardoso and felt I could finish in the points when I lost the front end. With the wasp sting on Friday and the crash in qualifying it's been a pretty disappointing weekend."

Goorbergh - DNF - "I had some problem with the front end - it felt to me like a tyre problem - that struck from the first corner. It's only happened to me two or three times before in my racing career - and it had to happen again today, when I was on the front row of the grid and sure I could achieve my best result so far. From the first corner, the front was bouncing around. I tried different corner lines and techniques, but nothing made any difference. The front wheel was coming right off the ground as I pitched it in. Corner entry is the strongest point of my riding technique and one of the bike's best points ... and I couldn't use it at all. There was no way I could hold the front, and I was just going backwards. There was a big chance it might cause me to crash, and very little chance of finishing even in the points - so I decided to retire. It's so disappointing".

West - DNF - "Right from the start the engine wasn't running right. It didn't feel good, and it was down on power compared to qualifying. I was behind (Haruchika) Aoki's V-Twin on the road, but he was just pulling away from me. I tried to press on, but it was getting worse and worse, and the lap times were going. There's always the question of safety in mind when there's something wrong with the engine so I decided to stop. It's really disappointing because I might have scored points again. I was faster than Aoki in morning warm-up and he was 14th today."

Nakano DNS: "My hand was just too painful this morning, I didn't even go out in the warm-up, there was no point. I'm going to spend the next week or so with a physiotherapist and see how it is when I get to Estoril. Until then I don't know."