2001 Grand Prix 500 - Round 13 - Twin Ring Motegi

Rossi, 1st - "On the start line I saw that Biaggi had chosen to use a 17" rear tyre. I said to myself, 'He will try to attack at the beginning but in the middle of the race he will have problems.' So, after I got a very good start I was able to run his pace in the opening laps, I was very confident. My plan was to wait and eventually take the lead when he began to have problems with grip. On some points on the track he was faster than me and on others I was faster. He was especially quick at the fast corner where he crashed, probably too fast. Anyway, after Biaggi went out I had my problems with Barros who was pushing very hard so I had to hold my concentration and ride very, very fast. Thanks to my team my bike was very much better than in practice, they did an excellent job last night and after the warm up I was very satisfied because the chattering problems we had in practice were completely solved and the machine was very stable under braking. Now, with a 67-point advantage the title is very near. Mathematics say it will be possible for me to get the eight points I need in Australia but I will not go to Phillip Island to finish eighth. Phillip Island is almost my second home GP because the boys in my team all come from Australia and the track is beautiful. The crowd also, they are a bit like Italians.

Barros, 2nd - "I made a mistake at the start and so I needed some laps to overtake Sete and Roberts. We kept nearly the same difference with Rossi during all the race and three laps before the end I realised I would not be able to catch him. If I had made a good start I could have fought for victory, but I think this second position is not a bad result at all. My objective is to be competitive in the rest of races. I am also happy because it is a great result for the team in a race held in Honda's country."

Capirossi, 3rd - "I am very happy with this third place, which I think is very important to keep our expectations for the championship. I did not make a good start and had some chattering problems that made me lose concentration. Abe was very fast and I tried to keep the distance. I will try to improved my position on the championship in the next races."

Abe, 4th - "Compared to yesterday this was much better. Imagine what I may have been able to do if I'd qualified better. Yesterday we had so much rear wheel chatter, so this morning we tried something completely different, and it paid off! The bike was working well, I'd managed to make a great start and was as high as seventh by the end of the first lap, but it was still a lot of ground to make up - especially on this track. Passing Kenny (Roberts) was very hard, his bike accelerates really well and he's good under brakes. When I'd finally managed to pass him the gap to Loris was quite big and my front tyre was pretty much finished, so I just settled for fourth."

Ukawa, 5th - "I have to do something to improve my starts, because once again, I lost positions at the beginning of the race. Up to half the race distance, I was riding in ninth and tenth position, but as the fuel tank got lighter, I started to get faster. This was a repetition of the last races: On the first laps, I ride quite uncomfortably with a full tank, and the more fuel is being burnt, the faster I can go to recover positions. I think that I rode a good race, even though I can't be happy with the result, because I hoped to get on the podium today. The positive aspect of the past few races is that we have at least finished within the first 5, 6 positions."

Nakano, 6th - "It wasn't my best start, that is for sure. And then there was the fact that the rear tyre I had was sliding more than I would have liked during the first few laps. That's why I lost a few places early on. Once I got a feel for it, though, I was able to get my rhythm and start making up some ground. I was sure I'd get Ukawa by the end, and even attempted a pass on the last lap, but I it just wasn't to be."

Checa, 7th - "We had a difficult time with the settings here over the last few days, but my mechanics did a great job and the bike wasn't so bad this morning. The engine was better and I was getting less chatter, though things were difficult during the early laps when the full fuel load was causing the front to push. With less fuel the bike got better, the tyres were good and I was able to run quite a good pace. This has been a weekend of experience for us, but I think it's good to come from 13th on lap one to seventh."

Roberts, 8th - "I’m finding it hard to race to my ability, and in my opinion the machine settings come into that. It’s difficult for me to keep my race pace, when I have these limitations. When the top three guys come by me and start pulling away, it’s extremely frustrating. It makes racing no fun. We tried some different chassis stuff here. Now a decision has been made as a result of today’s race that in Australia I’ll try Suzuki’s latest engine configuration, closer to the motor Sete has been using, which will limit us to the latest chassis that I’ve used at previous races this year."

Gibernau, 9th - "I rode my heart out, and then I ran short of gas on the last lap. What can I say?"

Kagayama, 10th - "I changed my settings after morning warm-up – but they were no good. For the first half of the race I was struggling. When the fuel load became lighter, it got better and better and I could start to speed up, and I could race with some good riders. At the finish I could see Kenny and Sete ahead of me, but couldn’t quite catch them. There are just three days at a GP to adapt to the bike, and adapt the bike to me, and rain on the first day made it even harder. But I really enjoyed the weekend all the same."

Criville, 11th - "I had a very poor start, and I'm not in good physical shape, either. Before the start, I had to get some injections into the ribs that I injured last week, and together with a stomach problem that I've had since I arrived here in Japan, I was basically without any strength, and very dehydrated. When you are in such poor physical conditions, you certainly can't go the way you'd like in the race. After starting that far back in the field, I saw that I had no chance to get a good result, and with my position in the race, it wasn't worth to take any risks in order to get past Kagayama. In such a situation and without any physical strength, it is easy to make a mistake and get injured, so I preferred to concentrate on just finishing the race. It was a difficult weekend that I would like to forget quickly."

McCoy, 12th - "I hurt my elbows, wrists and right foot when I crashed during the warm up, but once the race got under way I didnąt really notice the pain. Then after about 4 or 5 laps one of the exhausts started to blow. Obviously the engine lost a lot of power and I expected to be black flagged at any minute due to the noise. As it was no one pulled me in and I managed to nurse the bike all the way to the end to pick up a few points. All in all though not a great weekend."

Cardoso, 13th - "Today was a little bit better than yesterday, we'd removed the wheel chatter problem from the equation but there's still a few other things that were holding us back. From around lap 12 I'd lost a lot of rear wheel grip, so it was very difficult to get the drive I needed - which is why McCoy and (Alex) Criville were able to get by."

West, 14th - "For the first five or six laps I could stay with (Garry) McCoy and Alex (Criville). They weren't pulling too much on the straights, but in the corners they'd rush in then stop. I was nearly running over them. When they did pull a gap I could get a better rhythm and do good lap times. Even when they opened up more of a gap I could keep (Jose Luis) Cardoso in my sights, which helped me keep going and keep my speed up because I was alone with no one else to judge off. The bike was running really well from Saturday onwards, which makes me feel pretty good for my 'home' GP at Phillip Island next weekend."

Haslam, 15th - "It was a nice bonus to finish in the points but I'm still not getting the best out of myself or the bike so that's a bit frustrating, there is still a lot more to come. At the start I made a couple of mistakes and lost the tow with Aoki and a couple of the set-up changes we made didn't really work in the race so I struggled a little bit."

Clarke, 17th - "I learnt a lot this weekend especially after talking to Ron Haslam and Leon on Saturday night. I needed to change my style to find more corner speed because before I was on the throttle too early coming off the corners and that was hard on the tyres. The change worked although I found when I started to push harder the bike set-up wasn't quite right so that's something to work on now. It takes time but I definitely made some progress this weekend."

Biaggi, DNF - "There's nothing to say really. I had to ride over the limit to stay ahead of Rossi, so there's no margin and that's when things like this can happen. Just like the last time I fell, I was doing nothing different through that corner from the laps before, but the front just let go. It was another fall that we can't explain. All I can say is that I had to try everything I could. I used a 17-inch rear tyre to try and give myself some form of advantage over the others but that had nothing really to do with the fall. I am very frustrated and upset. I'll still give 100-percent for the last races but also I'll start looking to the future."

Haga, DNF - "The bike was feeling fine but I hit a bump coming into a corner and lost the front end. It was my mistake and very frustrating because without that I think I could have had a good race."

Jacque, DNF - "I actually had a pretty good start to the race today. The bike was feeling good and I was settling in nicely when the front brake lever started to feel a bit vague and inconsistent from about the fifth lap. This is why I lost so many places and eventually decided to pull in."

Van Den Goorbergh, DNF - "It just wasn't our day. Yesterday afternoon I managed to find some good speed after trying a 17-inch rear tyre rather than the usual 16.5, but a problem in warm-up meant we missed out on extra time to refine the chassis and suspension settings with that tyre. Even so, it felt good. I got a good start, and I was in the top ten when I saw the temperature gauge going up really quickly. The engine was still running, but there was obviously a problem, so I had to pull in to the pits. Now I'm really looking forward to next weekend in Australia. The circuit has fast, sweeping corners instead of the stop-and-go slow turns here, and that's the sort of track where the KR3 is really at its best. I'm hoping for a really good finish there to make up for the disappointment here".