Valentino Rossi 2nd - "When the rain started I had just got passed Max (Biaggi) and in a few corners I got an advantage of 4/10ths of a second. When I saw the first few rain drops on my helmet visor I closed the throttle because I was in a fast corner and it could have been dangerous. So Biaggi took the lead again and was first at the start - finish line. Anyway, that didn't change anything in terms of the classification because what counts is the lap before the red flag. I cannot say sincerely that I would have won if the race was not stopped but it would have been a very nice fight and I think that Loris (Capirossi) would have been in the battle at the end. In my heart I felt I could have won because I still held a half second margin. Now, looking at the lap by lap chronological analysis I get more sure of this because I was able to make 2m 02.6s while Biaggi never lapped under 2m 03s, even in the initial part of the race while he was leading and the tyres were in better condition. So, I feel a little bit unlucky and a little bit disappointed, even if second place is not a bad result. If we look at the world championship classification I'm still leading with a 21 points advantage going into Donington Park, which is another track I like very much. So, finally, the official track record remains with Kevin Schwantz, who set it in 1991. Today conditions were not ideal because after the rain in the morning the asphalt didn't have as much grip as yesterday. Also the carburation of my bike was a little bit rich.. Anyway, I was not far away from the record (2/10ths of a second) and if we had done all 20 laps of the race I would have probably been able to run below 2m 02.4s. In practice we made fantastic lap times. That shows that the competition between we three Italian's is raising the technical level of 500cc racing."

Loris Capirossi 3rd - "Valentino and Max were riding dangerously and I saw them make some mistakes. I was waiting for a chance and I am sure I could have got it because we were riding a second below the real possibilities of the tyres. I am still behind them and I think I can recover the difference."

Alexandre Barros 4th - " Having to use the second bike due to the fail of the first during the warm up, is maybe the reason why I lost some tenths of a second in every lap. Anyway I don't think it is a bad result, but I need better ones if I want to be in the battle for the title in the last races."

Shinya Nakano 5th: “My start was so-so. I made a mistake with the clutch, I took two bites at it and lost a few places because of it. Fortunately the bike has been feeling really good, and it was almost perfect for the whole race, so once I collected my thoughts I put my head down and went after the lead group. I had one moment when I tried to pass Criville in the chicane, I went in a little too fast and had to stand the bike up and run on through the grass. Once I re-joined I went after Kenny, but by the time I passed him the gap to the lead group was just too big, so I focused on securing a safe fifth. It’s a very difficult circuit so I’m happy with that.”

Kenny Roberts 6th - "That is our level, and there's nothing we can do about it. I could ride with the leaders, but as soon as the tyre grip goes down and throttle response becomes more crucial, our lap times slow down."

Sete Gibernau 7th - "I got a good start, but I have to thank Ukawa for throwing me off the race-track on the first lap. After that I had to come back from 16th, right at the back. I had to catch all the way up, then pass a lot of people. We had to change the chassis for the race from practice, and it didn't feel the same. It was sliding more, and the bike was working differently. It could have been a better race for me."

Tohru Ukawa 8th - "I'm very angry because I didn't ride a good race. I wasn't good from the beginning and I dropped back into the second group of riders at the start. I then tried to push hard in order to reach the first group, but I had several big moments with the front end of the bike which was a warning signal to take it a bit easier. When I realised that I was unable to ride in the 2.03's consistently and that I was close to a crash several times, I preferred to stay in my group until the final laps. When Crivillé crashed and Nakano started to pull away, I tried to stay with him, but it wasn't possible. My bike had the same front end chatter that it had yesterday."

Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh 9th - "I got the best start I've had all season, and the engine ran well all race. It wasn't superb, but after the problems yesterday, it was good. I gained some places at the first corner, but then I missed a gear shift and lost places again. Later when I got settled with a group of factory bikes, they were going very fast in each other's slipstream, but I could keep up. When the group split up a bit then I could think about overtaking. Towards the end I could easily have overtaken Ukawa, but he would have had a chance to follow me and see where I was fast, then pass me on the straight. I decided to wait, but then I saw the red flag instead."

Noriyuki Haga 10th - “The bike was working well for the first eight laps and then the rear started to chatter. It means that I lose feel from the tyres and confidence in them making it hard to keep pushing hard. I’d made a good start and was up in sixth when the problem started. I also had to avoid Criville’s crash in the chicane, which didn’t help. I had an injection in my left arm to help with the pain, and my knee has a huge bruise on it from yesterday’s crash making it hard to really throw the bike around. I had to try and compensate for my left arm by working harder with my right; not easy to do around this circuit.”

Olivier Jacque 11th: “I’m very disappointed. It’s good to finish the race with a result but after three days I still had the same problems I had on day one - the bike was feeling so heavy and I wasn’t able to get a good rhythm. It’s not the bike itself, rather the limited time we’ve had on it. Shinya has done around 9000km on the 500 while I’ve only managed something like 1000km so far. It means that I can’t expect to be able to match Shinya until the team and I learn more about the bike. We need to find our own balance, a base setting that works for me.”

José Luis Cardoso 12th - “I’m really not happy with how I rode this weekend. The result is ok but that’s only because so many riders crashed. I’m just not feeling confident with myself, or the bike. The mechanics and the team are working so hard for me and it just hasn’t clicked yet.”

Anthony West 15th - "We'd fixed our carburation problems and the bike was running really well. My start was okay, but on the first lap the engine started 'missing' and losing power. I was afraid it might seize. At one point I even pulled in the clutch in case it did lock up. In fact it was just running a bit rich and when it cleared it was fine. I had a couple of gearbox problems that meant I lost a little bit of time every lap. I was still catching and passing people, but I felt I could have gone faster, and possible even got with the 'Twins' in front of me. I was catching them, but then they stopped the race."

Alex Crivillé DNF - "On the first laps, with the crashes of Checa and Abe, I lost contact with the group of the five leading guys, but I was confident to be able to cut the gap lap by lap. But then, when I got into the chicane before the start and finish straight, Nakano overtook me and ran a bit wide going into that turn. I tried to avoid him and therefor ran wide, too, and then Iost the front. It's a shame, because Assen is a circuit that I like and even though practice didn't go the way we expected, I still was confident about my chances to fight for the podium. My start was quite good today considering I had to start from the third row, and I realised from the beginning that my bike worked much better than in practice, even though I still had some chatter on the front."

Norick Abe DNF, crashed lap 3: “It was difficult to say what happened at the time. All I knew was that I was about to tip into the corner and then the bike was just out of control. It just kicked me off and I crashed. I think that Carlos ran into the back of me and that’s why I went down. It’s very annoying when it’s not your fault and then you get hurt. I think a foot-peg went into my left knee and it took out a piece of skin, so it is very painful. I guess I will need stitches tomorrow, and an x-ray for my shoulder. I don’t think it’s broken but it is very painful. I was approaching the first few laps like I always do, take it easy, get settled in and then go for it. It’s a long race, 20 laps. I just hope things will be OK for Donington.”

Carlos Checa DNF, crashed lap 3: “I got an OK start, but unfortunately I did not feel as comfortable with the bike as in qualifying. The first few laps I took it easy, but then I saw the lead riders getting away so I tried to up my pace. I was behind Abe and tried to pass him on the inside, but I went in the corner a bit too hot and I lost the front. As I went down I took Norick with me. I am sorry for him, it was my mistake.”

Garry McCoy DNS - “I knew it would be a possibility that I might not be able to race here this weekend because of the limited time I’ve had for physiotherapy. As it turns out this circuit, with it’s high-speed changes in direction and bumps, has really taken its toll. It’s not so much the muscle that’s the problem, rather it seems that the bone isn’t fully healed and it doesn’t seem strong enough, yet. I’ve decided to pull out for the rest of this GP, and I’ve also decided I won’t be doing Donington either. It’s not an easy choice but I want to come back where I left off. I don’t want to be just making up the numbers. I want to be racing for a top five finish, and if I can’t, I can’t see the point in risking another setback if I strain the injury, or crash and break it again. It’s better to make sure everything is 100 percent and then I can concentrate on racing. I’ll now just focus on getting ready for the German grand prix.”