World SuperBike 2001 - Round 10 - Brands Hatch - Quotes
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Bostrom - "I had a perfect bike set-up,
the tyres were perfect and we are riding really well around this track.
In the second leg of the first race I knew Neil was going to be tough
and it was not going to be worth fighting him so I just followed him
around to the flag. It seems Neil is the man to beat now, I’ve been
racing with this guy for the last six races and it’s been incredible.
Today I pushed 100% and he was right on it all the time. Five wins in a
row is unbelievable and I’m still dreaming because you just want to keep
winning. We didn’t touch the bike at all for the second race, the same
tyres and the same idea to go out and win. In the first half of the race
I followed Neil around a bit, then tried to zap him and go but he was
tied to the back of me so we had a really good race." Hodgson - Race 1 - "I made a mistake in the first leg because I’d chosen the wrong tyre, I was glad when the race was stopped because it gave me a chance to switch to the right one. In the second leg I did everything I could to take the race victory but Bostrom was on my tail the whole time. He didn’t give up. I kept looking at my pit board and every time it said -1.6, which meant he was right behind me. At least I learnt something in the first race and as long as I have enough grip, I think I can be the race winner." - Race 2 - "I threw everything I had at the race. With six laps to go, water started to appear on my visor and I knew that the bike was leaking water. The temperature of the engine shot up and I had no choice but to back off. It was just one of those things, but at the time I could have cried. I really wanted to win a race to show my appreciation for the unbelievable following that I have had today at Brands Hatch." Edwards - Race 1 - "In the first part I was pretty convinced that I could make the break, but once I got into a battle with Neil Hodgson I knew it was going to be hard work. In the second part I tried to work out what position I was in overall and got it about right. We'll probably look to make an odd change or two for the second race but otherwise the machine and tyres were OK - it's down to me to get on with trying to win." - Race 2 - "I've got no answers. One minute we're there on the pace the next we're struggling. I just couldn't get any rear traction in that second race, whether it's tyres or machine set-up or both I really don't know. I was ready to challenge and did my best in the early stages of the race but, in the end, I was going backwards fast." Chili - "I really wanted to be on the podium today - for myself, the team and all my fans here. I am pleased to have got two fourths but I was disappointed not to get on the podium. We have a good set-up for the bike now and I am sure we will get some good results in the next three rounds." Bayliss - "In race 1 I got boxed in at the start but then finally managed to get past Corser. I was happy with the restart because it meant I could start from row 2 instead of 4. In the second race I thought it would have been difficult to get third but I didn’t get a bad start, gave it everything I had and to cut a long story short I got a podium. I ended up not losing any points to Colin over the weekend and I’m still 53 clear so it worked out fine. Congratulations to the team, we all worked really hard together and did what we had to do." Toseland - Race 1 - "I’m disappointed because I qualified so well, I was riding really well in the second leg and had got up to sixth position, but on the last lap (Stephane) Chambon knocked into me and I lost four places." - Race 2 - "It was the best ride of my life, it definitely made up for the disappointment in race one, when (Stephane) Chambon ran into me. Brands Hatch is a very technical circuit and to be fast around here is really important. I think I’ve learned a lot this weekend and that will help me in my future career in World Superbikes." Corser - "To say I'm disappointed would be the understatement of the year. I'm fed up and very frustrated. I came here to win two races and ended with just eleven points! I rode as hard as I could under poor conditions and there's no way I could have ridden any harder without crashing. Once again we had problems with vibration - caused probably by the tyres. Ever since Japan, we've had tyre problems and we keep telling them, but nothing improves. Most of the time the tyres aren't round and that causes vibration and the bike becomes almost impossible to ride. When we spin the tyres on a spindle you can see that the tyre doesn't spin freely. It's really, really frustrating and I just don't know what to do at this stage. Something has to be sorted out - and soon." Chambon - "It was a shame that the first race was red-flagged and re-started, because it destroyed the rhythm I'd built up. When the race started again, I just couldn't get back into a good rhythm. I think I could have finished higher if the red flag hadn't happened. I made a good start in race two, but suffered problems with grip eight laps from the end." Xaus - "I’m quite pleased with today’s results because once again I managed to score some points, the problem was that I was sliding around a lot and with my injured shoulder I was finding it difficult to get the bike back up straight. I tried to attack for as long as possible but then just tried to finish the race." Okada - Race 1 - "I always knew it was going to be a hard race from 12th place on the grid but I made it worse with two poor starts, the red flag probably helped me a little to get re-focused but otherwise it's a disappointing result for me and I intend to make up for it in the second race today." - Race 2 - "We improved the setting from the first race and I had better grip but the machine also developed a little bit of a chatter. I was on the back of a group of five riders and didn't have the drive to get into a position to make a pass towards the end of the race." Goddard - "I was about 20-metres behind the two guys (Robert Ulm and James Haydon) when they crashed. I saw Haydon get high-sided, and luckily I wasn't right on them or I might have got caught up in it. I didn't see the fire because I'd gone past the two bikes before it started. When they stopped the race it helped me because it meant I was on the fourth row for the restart. That made things a lot better than being on the seventh row after qualifying. It was good to finish both races today and get some more data and information on the performance of the Benelli under race conditions. I got into some close racing with other bikes and it's valuable for us to be able to compare the Benelli with them. In race trim we're a lot closer to the others than we seem to be in qualifying. The bike handles really well and it's fun to ride. Right now our priority is finding more acceleration and horsepower, but engine development is not a simple thing. I'll be staying in Europe for the Summer break until we start racing again. We're hoping to do some testing." |
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