World SuperSport 2001 - Round 7 - Misano - Quotes
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Teuchert - "Waiting until near the end was a deliberate tactic and it was important for me to take MacPherson at exactly the right place on the final lap. I could see that both he and Casoli were in trouble with tyres on the fast lefts onto the back straight, so I got right behind MacPherson and went past him on the brakes. I had the biggest moment of the race right after that though, when my front tyre slid in the way to the apex. It was absolutely on the limit." MacPherson - “I just wish the Championship could have started from this race. In the last lap, the bike jumped out of gear and Teuchert was able to slip past. I tried to regain the lead but just ran out of opportunities. On the podium I was starting to feel a little dizzy, as it was so hot out there. It was one of the hardest races I’ve ever contested. I just wish it was me on the top spot - but second isn’t that bad in this heat.” Casoli - "MacPherson was very strong today, too strong for me to catch on the last lap. I really wanted to win and that is why I led for so long, because I knew I had a pretty good setup. I didn't win but I maintained a good championship lead after the race. That, after all, is the most important thing." Vermeulen - "I was very confident going into the race. I'd qualified in 11th but I knew I could run at the front. After an average start I just couldn't make up the gap to the leading group. In the end it went my way and I¹m very happy with fifth place." Fujiwara - “I made a very good start and was so happy to be in front of all the other riders. After about three laps I felt the tyres were losing grip, so I had to ease the pace and take it carefully for a while. In the end, I aimed to finish as high as possible and take as many points as I could get - and that's what I did. I'm happy to get the result, but it should have been better.” Whitham - "Seventh doesn't sound that great but I was happy enough with my race times, because I was pretty much lapping the same pace as the leaders. What I wasn't that happy with was how little progress I made through the field in the first few laps and basically how I qualified, well down the field. That always makes it doubly hard. My tyres were completely finished at the end but then so were everyone's." Pitt - "I had a problem with the brakes, and after about five laps the lever was coming back to the handlebars. I used thicker discs from Japan, which had worked well in practice. Iain (MacPherson) had the standard discs we'd been using before in his bike and they seemed to work better. In the race I was trying to adjust the brakes with my throttle hand and it was costing me about half-a-second every lap, and maybe more. I couldn't brake where I wanted to. I also went the wrong way with the rear tyre. I chose a harder compound because I'd tried a softer tyre in practice and I wasn't sure it would last the distance. With the championship so close I didn't want to take a gamble with the tyre. Obviously the softer tyre was the way to go – that's what Iain used and he was on the pace from start to finish. I didn't get the result I wanted here, but we're only 20 points behind (Paolo) Casoli and we've still got a good shot at the championship. Next month I'll be going to Japan to test for the (Suzuka) Eight-Hour. It would be good experience to be involved in that and it's obviously an important race for Kawasaki." Muggeridge - “I knew it was gonna to be tough starting from 23rd place but I knew the most critical point of the race would be the first two laps and I had to gain as many positions as possible and then work from there. After then it was just a matter of riding my time and keep soldiering on to get up through the field as fast as I could. Everything was looking pretty good I went almost from the back to the front group and things were looking pretty shiny for me. After half race distance, I started to loose rear grip pretty dramatically. I increased the spring tension on the forks so I could enter a little bit harder to make time on the entry and be easier on the exit because the rear grip was missing. So that basically got me home and I was looking good for eights when I entered the home straight. But the bike fall into neutral and Andrew Pitt just passed me and I ended up ninth. I think the result is not so bad, we got some points and the championship is not over yet that’s for sure. For next time we have to make sure we don’t waste Friday and Saturday to make Sunday a little bit easier.” Kellner - "I got knocked off, by Iannuzzo. I am especially disappointed because I am completely recovered from my recent illness, and I knew even yesterday that I could do well, having won the race here last year." |
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