World SuperBike 2001 - Round 11 - Oschersleben

Colin Edwards - "It's been a good day for me. Not just with the championship in mind but actually winning races again. I thought the win was mine in that second race but Xaus was on a mission and I had a few problems. The rear was sliding but we didn't really get the machine and tyres dialled in until this morning's warm-up so I'm pleased to come away with a win and
a second place."

Ruben Xaus - "It was a good result for me, the only thing that wasn’t good was the start. When I managed to pass those in front of me, Colin was already well away. I didn’t want to do like I did in Monza when I crashed with three laps to go, so I decided to settle for second. I was catching Colin, but I think everyone had the same problem with the front tyre in the last few laps." - Race 2 - "When there were 10 laps to go, I couldn’t believe it was so long because I was trying to keep the bike on the track, it was very slippery for everyone. I did a number of quick 1m27s laps for the first part and that destroyed the tyre but it helped me to go and then I kept the gap to Colin and just relaxed on the last lap. Everything was working really well, the bike, the tyres and my head!"

Troy Bayliss - "It’s some consolation but I’m not happy with third because I’ve lost more points To Colin. Today I’m happy for Ruben for his first win and for Ducati because they won the Constructors’ title. These races have been really hard because I felt like I was fighting with the bike all the time. I’ll just have to put my head down and try and come up with something a bit better for the bike at Assen."

Ben Bostrom - "I didn’t get off the line the way I was hoping in the first race and the guys up front took off without me so by the time I got up into third they were gone and I just rode the best I could. The only really good part was when I passed Yanagawa and Corser at the first corner but for the rest of the race I was just following everyone around." - Race 2 - "It must be the end of the season because everyone’s riding so well and pushing so hard so I was pretty happy with third and fourth under the circumstances. There’s no way to save your tyres around here, you’ve got to push hard otherwise everyone else will eat you alive. It makes for good racing, you have to go flat-out all the way and it’s good for the spectators."

Neil Hodgson - "It has been a disappointing day because we came to Oschersleben with great expectations. I think that by qualifying on pole it disguised the fact that we didn’t have the best race set-up possible. I must admit that it wasn’t my day and even though I tried my hardest, I wasn’t riding to my full potential. Next weekend’s another round and another chance of getting back on top. I’m happy that I’ve moved closer to Troy (Corser) in the championship and hopefully I can keep going in that direction."

James Toseland - "I really enjoyed the second race. I was trying to fend off Corser, but he had really good grip and I just couldn’t stay in front. The best thing was that I finished so close to Neil… that was the best feeling!"

Akira Yanagawa - "I saw so many of my Green fans out there and that made me go at least one second faster. I wish I was able to reward them with a higher finish, so I am a little disappointed. The team worked really hard all weekend and I think we have made even more improvements."

Gregorio Lavilla - "We made some changes to the bike for the second race and it was much better. I was able to get a good start and was much closer to the leading riders than the first race. We had a really good fight with the other riders but it was very difficult to pass. We really needed to get more acceleration out of the corners, this would have helped."

Pierfrancesco Chili - "We made some changes to the bike after the morning warm-up and I think we improved the bike a little from what he had in qualifying. The bike is very sensitive to small changes, so sometimes things begin to work OK and sometimes not. At the end of the day I wasn't so frustrated as I had been. OK, I'm a little disappointed because I really believed that I could make some good results here and although sixth is not so bad, I wanted more. I didn't make a good start in race one, but step by step I improved and had a good fight with a bunch of riders. In race two, I used a different gearbox. It was a bit long and I couldn't accelerate in the turns like I wanted and I found that I didn't have much grip."

Tadayuki Okada - "I had to both defend my place and try to pass the rider in front, at the same time. It was hard work being in that group. Every time I made a move I didn't quite have enough confidence in the front to turn in early and make the pass stick. I'm disappointed not to finish higher then eighth, especially after taking fifth in the first race but it's onto Assen next week, a circuit I know well and I'm hoping to challenge for my first race win there."

Stephane Chambon - "I made a good start in race one, but soon found that I was getting a lot of front end chattering. There was nothing I could do about it, so I just had to carry on as best as I could, but I wasn't able to push hard and all I could get was 12th. In race 2, I changed the settings of the bike a little back to a more 'normal' set-up. The bike felt a bit better, but I had a tyre problem. I was using a softer rear and it felt pretty good for the first ten laps. But then it started going off and by fifteen laps it was gone! I had many, many slides, but I wanted to get a finish so I kept going. I'm not so happy because Friday was good, but then Saturday and Sunday didn't turn out so well and that's a bit frustrating."

Steve Martin - "I got off to a good start line race and was able to consistently lap in the 1m29s bracket. With seven laps to go I knew I could not catch the person in front but I had a 12 second lead on Chambon, so I concentrated on keeping my lap times consistent but then found myself in the dirt after losing the front in turn three. I was extremely disappointed both for myself and Pirelli, as up until that point it was one of the most consistent races in the points that we had run. My start was not quite as good in the 2nd race and I couldn't quite manage to hang onto the back of the large group of riders in front. From there on in it was a fairly lonely race, again I tried to maintain consistent laps. Towards the middle of the race I started to struggle for grip but was able to maintain my position until the chequered flag. It was good to be the first privateer and to finished in the points."

Troy Corser - "Well that's one to forget! A crash and then two poor results. Obviously the crash didn't help and although I didn't feel too bad when I woke up this morning, I knew I was going to have a hard time doing tow 28-lap races round here. It's quite a physical circuit with lots of changes of direction, so you need to be able to lift and drop the bike with your arms and it was always going to be a problem. But, I made a good start in the first race and the injuries didn't feel too bad and I thought maybe I could hang on in and get a decent result. Then the rear tyre began to spin and I got lots of slides and soon I was going backwards. My lap times slowed and I could do nothing about it. The second race wasn't good from the off. I didn't manage a good start and I was struggling to be in the top ten at the end of the first lap. Then the spinning got worse and that was that. It was all I could do to finish the race, because I was nearly off it at every corner even when I wasn't pushing it so hard. Also, I had already done 28 laps and the shoulder wasn't feeling all that wonderful and the combination of that and the tyre problems were enough. It's been a bitterly frustrating weekend after such a promising start. I came here refreshed after a break and was ready to win both races and all I got was bad luck and two poor results. Hopefully it will not happen again."

Peter Goddard - "Today we didn't have the speed we needed. However, it's good we are able to keep finishing these races because we're collecting important data that will help us next season. We finished just out of the points here, but in reality that's secondary to being out there doing as many laps as we can under race conditions. The team is learning all the time, and the things were are picking up now will all be put to good use in the off-season development program. Considering this is a new bike, the Tornado's engine reliability in the races has been exceptional, and we're working on retaining that as we increase the outright performance."