2001 Grand Prix 500 - Round 8 - Quotes

Valentino Rossi - 1st - "I think that has been the best, and most difficult, race in the 500 class. You know the way practice went: stiff neck and crash on Friday, rain on Saturday and Biaggi second in the championship and on pole for the race. Even the morning warm-up was a problem. The technical settings of my bike were absolutely no good. When I stopped at the pit the mechanics had to regulate my suspension settings. But the team did a fantastic job and at the start I had a good machine. That made it possible for me to recover from the third row start. In the first laps of the race I didn't want to push so hard because of the full fuel tank. There are two or three places to pass at Donington Park and I started to improve my position lap by lap. But it was difficult for me to pass Jacque and I lost time because, when I went passed him he braked too late and I nearly went onto the grass. From that point my rear wheel started to spin so much and it was not possible to rejoin the leading group of Capirossi, Roberts, Barros and Biaggi. Luckily after a few laps they also started have problems with their rear tyres. From that moment it was possible for me to reduce the gap and start passing them. It was not an easy task but I knew they were running at 1m 33.8s while I knew that it was possible for to run half a second faster. From then I began to be confident it was possible for me to win the race. Something I really did not expect this morning. Now I'm going to Suzuka to test for the Suzuka 8 Hours and then to Sachsenring, a track that I like and where I made a very good race last season. I usually prefer fast tracks instead of slow tracks but I like Sachsenring."

Max Biaggi - 2nd - "I did all I could, I tried 100 per cent, and I played my own game. My start wasn’t so bad and Roberts had a good rhythm early on, but when he lost some speed I started to push, putting in some good, consistent laps. But then Barros closed the gap and Rossi was coming too, they were both running a very quick pace. When he overtook me it was difficult to stay with him, I was losing a little time at a few points around the track. It was quite hard but I did my best. Rossi started from 11th and won, so you can see the potential of him and his bike. It’s a hard combination to beat."

Alex Barros - 3rd - "I enjoyed the race and achieved my aim, that was to be on the podium. I could have been in a better position, but I made a mistake while trying to overtake Biaggi, and that made me lose my chances to fight for victory. I was deceived in Assen because I could not be on the podium, but I've been compensated and I hope I will be competitive in the next races. The truly important thing is being among the first positions, and if you do, you got your chance."

Noriyuki Haga - 4th - "I’m 80-percent happy with that, I think that I could have possibly gone one better at this track. I didn’t really change anything from yesterday, just thought about what I was doing on the bike more. This morning it seemed to work, I was concentrating on driving off the turns harder and I was fast and consistent. Once I got through the fairing bashing of the opening laps, which I don’t mind at all because that’s racing, I then started to concentrate like I did this morning and began to chase down the leading group. Then I managed to catch Barros, but by that stage the softer front tyre I used had done its best, making it hard to improve further. The tyre helped me though, especially under brakes. It was a very good learning experience."

Carlos Checa - 5th - "We’ve had a few tough races which put us behind, but I feel we’re making progress again. Last week we made some important improvements to the bike and we improved the chassis here too. We tried some new settings for the warm-up, which were great for the front but gave me some chatter at the rear, so we went back to yesterday’s set-up for the race to be safe. I passed a few people early on but I wasn’t taking risks, just going step by step. When Rossi came past I tried to follow him but the front folded really badly at one turn, I only saved a crash by keeping the bike up on my knee. I’m quite satisfied with the result, the team worked really well this weekend, now we need to maintain progress in Germany."

Shinya Nakano - 6th - "I had a bit of bad luck at the beginning as something didn’t feel quite right. I just concentrated on trying not to loose too many positions and then at half distance things seemed to improve. I’d chosen harder tyres for the race and they were coming into their own and that’s why I was able to start pulling back some ground. I started on the front row and by lap four or five I had dropped back to 11th or something, so I guess getting back through to sixth is good enough for today."

Alex Crivillé - 7th - "In the last moment before the race, knowing that nothing had worked out for us in the practice sessions, we opted for settings that I had used previously, and the bike worked much better then. I finished in front of fast riders like Roberts and Capirossi, and I think I rode a good race. It's a pity that I had to start from row four on the grid, because when you are so far back at the start, it's difficult to keep the front runners from escaping like they did today. This weekend was really tough for us, because we tried a lot of things like changing the geometry of the motorcycle, and this really delayed our progress. For the race, we finally went back to what we knew, and this turned out to be the right decision."

Kenny Roberts - 8th - "If we can make the bike as good for the second half of the race as it is for the first part - then we'll be in with a chance."

Olivier Jacque - 9th - "I learnt a great deal today. With the amount of time I’ve lost this year that was a very valuable experience riding with riders like those. I had a very good feeling about how I was riding and the base setting that we now have seems to be working well for me, it’s just that I started to get a little tired towards the end of the race. I still need a little more race fitness to keep up that kind of pace, but the most important thing is now we’re moving in the right direction."

Loris Capirossi - 10th - "I made a good start, but suddenly the back tyre started to slip and I lost rhythm. It was pity because I could have been easily on the podium today. To recover positions at the end, I should have risked too much and it would be better to finish."

Sete Gibernau - 11th - "My start was not too good, and after that I pushed as hard as I could all the way. I was right on the limit, that's why I ran on straight at the chicane. Today, that is the best I could do."

Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh - 12th - "I got a very good start, right in the leading group - I was sixth at the end of the first lap. Nakano was holding me up. I was faster than him at lots of places, but just didn't have the power to pass him. I lost a few places because of that, but the race was still developing. Then I found I was riding alone, and struggling against myself a bit, pushing hard. Then it happened - Sete Gibernau got inside me on the corner onto the back straight, and he actually crashed, but saved his bike by hitting me. That pushed me right onto the grass. I got back a long way behind, but even then it took a while before the right side of the tyre had any grip. And that was my race. If it hadn't been feel for that, the result would have been very different".

Jason Vincent - 13th - "I’m happy with how that all went considering I’ve only ridden the bike just over four hours, and one of those was wet. It wasn’t a bad start and after I got through the biff and barge of the opening few laps I put my head down and went after the group ahead. I had a great dice with Leon Haslam and Anthony West and it wasn’t long before we caught Chris Walker. All I wanted to do was finish in front of those guys, and I did."

Anthony West - 14th - "I'm a bit happier after that. I got left behind a bit in the first few laps, but I managed to catch (Leon) Haslam and (Haruchika) Aoki) on their V-Twins. It took a while to pass them. Leon fought back pretty well, and while we were battling we started to catch Chris Walker. Then Haslam dropped back, and Jay Vincent came with me. I was spinning up everywhere and it was costing me most time on the corner onto the back straight. It made me slow onto the straight so it was easier for the V4s to pass me halfway down it. I was ahead of both of them for a while, then they both passed me on the same lap on the straight, although Walker went straight on at the end of it. I lost a little time on Vincent, but then at the end I caught up again. I needed another lap and I reckon I could have had him."

Tohru Ukawa - 16th - "I'm not aware of having jumped the start, and until the very moment that I was showed the "stop and go" board, I didn't have any idea that there was a problem. I actually had quite a slow start, but if you take into account that I was far back on the grid, it wasn't that bad either. I settled into the group of Nakano and Crivillé, and I rode very comfortably with them. This morning, in the warm-up session, we tried some changes on my bike that improved its behaviour. And then I was punished with this penalty, and when I had completed the pit stop, the race was over for me. I lost the concentration and there was nothing more I could do."

Chris Walker - 18th - "After five laps I was just struggling to concentrate but I always knew this was going to be tough after what happened at Assen last week. I was missing my breaking points and the corner apexes and towards the end of the race I just went straight on at the esses at the end of the back straight and that's when Jay Vincent passed me. I just wanted to get through the race without making any big mistakes especially when the rear tyre grip went away."

Norick Abe - DNF, 18 laps - "I was feeling quite a bit of pain from my knee out there today. The worst of it was just before the start, and that’s partially the reason I think I jumped the start. I wasn’t concentrating and it looks as though I made a mistake because of it, and then I had to do the stop and go. I tried to get back out into the race and I was happy with my times and the ground I was making up, but then my foot started slipping off the foot peg. I looked down to see there was fluid everywhere so I pulled in to play it safe. Then it really wasn’t worth getting back out onto the track, I was so far behind."

José Luis Cardoso - DNF, 14 laps - "As you could imagine I’m not so happy with the result today. The officials say that I jumped the start so I had to do a stop go. It put me so far out of contention that it wasn’t worth continuing. I’ve looked at the video and I’m sure I didn’t jump the start, but they’re the officials and that’s racing. Next time I hope for something better."