Camel Honda

Rio was painted yellow as the two Camel Honda RC211Vs made their brilliant performance in the MotoGP race. Makoto Tamada stormed to victory – his first top spot in the premier class of the world championship – closely tailed by Max Biaggi whose second place gives new impetus to his challenge for the world MotoGP title.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal) - “A fantastic day with our bikes coming first and second. The team performed brilliantly with Makoto, who achieved his first victory, and with Max, whose second place is extremely important for him and for his position in the world ratings. Our thanks go to Camel and all the other sponsors for their constant support, and to Honda who have never failed to give us all the assistance we needed to win.”

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin tyres) – 2nd - “What a tough race! But wonderful, even though I didn’t make it to victory. And here I’d like to congratulate Makoto: he’s not just a fine rider – he’s a true friend. Great. I could hear him coming during the last laps, opening the throttle as he came out of the corners while I still had to wait, and I realised I was in danger. But I’m still really pleased with my bike, with my Michelins, and especially with all the work my team has done together with Honda. I started off well, with only Kenny in front, but I managed to get past him after a lap. I set my pace, trying to save the tyres, but it was too hot to try and break away from the pack, even though we were racing three hours earlier than usual. I tried not to make any mistakes, as conditions were pretty treacherous. These twenty points are really worth a lot for the championship, but now I want to get back onto the top of the podium.”

Gianluca Montiron – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada Team Manager) - “An extraordinary day. Here in Rio last year Makoto showed what he’s capable of when he made his first podium, and now just short of a year later, he’s given us his first MotoGP victory. We had a long talk yesterday and knew what we were capable of. When I saw him lying in wait behind Max, preparing to pounce, I knew he’d be first over the line. He did it his way, with style and talent. Thanks to Honda, for a great bike, and thanks to the people at Bridgestone who, after a moment of difficulty at Mugello, just gave it all they’d got and made it to the top spot of the rostrum today with Makoto. And with Max’s brilliant achievement, the Camel Honda colours just dominated the day.”

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone tyres) – 1st - “A perfect race, with the bike settings and the tyres as good as they could possibly be. The team did a magnificent job and I did the rest. I’d like to dedicate my victory to all of them and to my dear friend Daijiro. I think that’s the greatest homage I could pay to him. I miss him. I’m grateful to Bridgestone for the incredible work they did to make sure I could be fast and effective in all the tests this week, right through to the race itself when the tyres on my Honda gave me all the performance and endurance I needed.”

Ducati

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi scored his best result of the season so far in baking-hot sunshine at Rio de Janeiro today. Riding the factory's new Twin Pulse engine for only the second time, the Italian stormed through the pack after a sluggish start to complete the race in fourth place, just 11 seconds behind winner Makoto Tamada. Team-mate Troy Bayliss was less fortunate, sliding off during the early stages of a torrid race that also claimed world title rivals Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau. None of the riders were hurt in their falls.

"Although we feel sorry for Troy, I think we can be very happy with today's result," said Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. "We already saw at Assen that the bike is growing with the new Twin Pulse engine. Loris did an unbelievable job in tough conditions today. He recovered superbly from a bad start, without which I think he could have run with the leading group. His result is very, very positive for us. I feel proud that both the factory and the team have reacted so well after a difficult start to the season. Of course, Troy's crash was a real shame, but these things sometimes happen in racing, especially at this track which is really tricky and claimed several other top riders today."

The Ducati Marlboro Team stays on at Rio to test tomorrow. "We are now heading in a good direction but we have to keep working, that's why we are staying on to test," added Suppo. "I would like to thank all our partners for the great support they are giving us, especially Shell Advance and Michelin. Their products really helped us to be so good today."

Loris Capirossi had high hopes of a brilliant result at Rio today after he had qualified his Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4 on the second row of the grid yesterday. And the Italian wasn't disappointed. Despite a slow getaway from the grid he rocketed through from tenth on the first lap to fight his way through to fourth, using the user-friendly Twin Pulse engine to great effect around this slippery and bumpy racetrack.

"I'm 100 per cent satisfied with that result, so my thanks go to Ducati Corse and the team for all the work they've done," beamed Capirossi. "This is our best result so far this year. It demonstrates that we are heading in the right direction with the bike, and we're going to continue working in that direction. It was a tough race. I started from the dirty side of the track, so I got a lot of wheelspin away from the grid, which put me way back at the first corner. But I overcame that to get up to fourth. Once I was there I realised the first three guys were too far ahead, so I decided to consolidate my position by keeping Barros behind me."

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss fell victim to Jacarepagua's super-slick surface today, sliding out of the race on the fourth lap as he was starting to work his way through the pack. The Aussie, riding with his Four Pulse motor, had made up two places before he fell.

"I was struggling a bit with front-end grip, then I just lost the front mid-corner," he explained. "I ran the Four Pulse simply because we went good on it in warm-up this morning, so it seemed like the way to go for this race."

Kawasaki

The Rio Grand Prix lived up to its hot and humid reputation with Kawasaki Racing Team riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, battling exhausting conditions to finish ninth and eleventh respectively.

Hofmann made a superb late race charge, and just missed joining his teammate in the top ten when he failed by less than one second to run down Spanish Yamaha rider Carlos Checa.

However, Nakano was disappointed with the outcome of the 24-lap race, and his inability to launch a stronger challenge on the high-speed Rio circuit.

The 26-year-old Japanese rider finished less than half a second behind Norick Abe, but was frustrated that a horsepower deficit compared to his rivals limited his passing opportunities on the Rio straights.

After settling in eleventh place from the start, Nakano shadowed Abe from lap six, and over the final ten laps staged close battle against his fellow countryman.

Just before the start mechanics worked overtime to change the fuel injection throttle bodies on Nakano's Ninja ZX-RR, after a problem in the pre-race warm-up.

Hofmann faced a big challenge when he was nineteenth at the end of lap one, after a crowded start from 14th on the grid. Once the 24-year-old German rider found some clear track he hunted down John Hopkins and Ruben Xaus and passed both to claim 11th place on lap sixteen.

With six laps remaining Hofmann was seven seconds behind Checa, but closed that gap to less than a second at the finish, as he surged to try and claim tenth place. Hofmann's race pace was consistent and a valuable test of the revised engine mapping used on his Ninja ZX-RR today.

The 24-lap race, with midday track temperatures touching 35 degrees, was watched by an impressive crowd of 55,000 fans.

Shinya Nakano: 9th - "I'm very disappointed because it was not possible to fight any harder today. We know we need more performance from the engine, and hopefully this is being addressed, as finishing 27 seconds behind the race winner is too much. At the beginning of the race I had a good feeling with the bike and could see the leading group, but I just couldn't stay with them. For the last ten laps I tried to pass Norick Abe, but it wasn't possible. I have to say thanks to both my crew and the crew of my teammate, who worked so hard together to change the fuel injection system on my bike before the race."

Alex Hofmann: 11th - "The first three corners were very crowded and everyone passed me on the outside. Then Jeremy McWilliams came past on the straight and, suddenly, I found myself in 19th position. Not a good start to a race by any means. Once I got clear of the traffic I was able to chase down John Hopkins and Ruben Xaus and that was a good battle. There are not many passing places here, and I think a top ten finish was possible with a more aggressive first lap. The revised engine mapping I used today felt very comfortable; it was definitely a step forward. On the last lap I was expecting John Hopkins down the inside at the end of the straight. As I prepared for the corner he came on the outside and we touched, at 310 kph, and he went straight on. I'm sorry for that; I didn't think he would go for the outside."

Harald Eckl: Team Manager - "I'm delighted with the performance of both riders today, although we missed my wish for both to finish in the top ten by just one position. What is obvious from this race is that we need more engine power to make the next step, and that is the target for us now. The handling consistency of the bike and Bridgestone tyres was our strong point today. I'd also like to congratulate Bridgestone on their first MotoGP race win today. They put the work in after the problems at Mugello and it's good to see them reap the benefit of that work this weekend."

Suzuki

Team Suzuki's pole setter Kenny Roberts Jr confirmed the significant progress made so far this season, finishing a best-so-far seventh in today's Rio GP in Brazil as team-mate Hopkins was 15th after an adventurous race including a last-lap tumble.

Roberts, who took his and Suzuki s first pole-position start since he won the 500cc World Championship in 2000, ran into the first corner in second place and dived underneath rival Max Biaggi at the next chance to take the lead.

Showing his exceptional corner speed, Kenny opened up a gap by the time they got to the 4.933km Nelson Piquet circuit s long back straight where he knew the higher top speed of his rivals would give them a chance to overtake. But Roberts was far enough ahead to hold the lead for the rest of the lap and until the next time they arrived at the straight.

From then on, Roberts rode hard and accurately to make the most of his chances. His slightly lower top speed made it inevitable that he would drop back, but he went no lower than seventh while the championship leaders Sete Gibernau and Valentino Rossi both crashed out, victims of the circuit s notorious slippery surface.

In the closing laps, Roberts lost pace as the tyre performance dropped away and had to give best to old US racing rival Colin Edwards. But he was well clear of the next group and finished only 23 seconds behind the leaders, the fast-improving machine s best performance in two years.

Team-mate John Hopkins, racing the revised-firing-order engine for the first time, had the disadvantage of a poor grid position after qualifying 17th. He made up a couple of places off the line and was able to pass Ruben Xaus on the tenth of 24 laps and open up a gap. By then, Alex Hofmann was closing and the German was soon involved in a torrid battle with Hopkins for an eventual 11th.

It was resolved on the last lap when Hofmann blocked Hopkins' passing move at the end of the back straight. Their bikes touched and Hopkins was sent careening off the track. He ran into the tyre wall at low speed and fell but was able to keep the engine running to rejoin in 15th, still in the championship points.

The race was run in hot sunshine, moved from the usual afternoon slot to be first in the day to avoid TV clashes with the French F1 GP and the Euro 2004 football final. It was won by Makoto Tamada, a first victory for the Japanese rider and for his Bridgestone tyres, the same as those used by the Suzuki team.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr., Seventh position: "I got away ahead of everyone other than Max, and then I passed him right away. I was trying to pull a gap so I could hold them off down the straight and I managed to do that. I knew that they would come by me there eventually, but I was in a good position and I pushed as best I could to the end of the race. It's been a very positive weekend for us, we were only 23 seconds behind the winner, which is the best we've done for some time. I must congratulate Bridgestone on their first win. It's a fantastic performance after their recent problems and takes one thing out of the equation for us, at least at this track. Our two biggest problems at the moment are acceleration, which will come when we get more horsepower; and traction control. I noticed the others guys were using it and when the tyres go off, we desperately need it if we're going to keep getting closer to the front."

JOHN HOPKINS, 15th position: "I didn't get a great start so I wasn't able to make up as many positions as I would have liked. I got behind Xaus but his pace was quite slow and I could see that someone was catching us, so I needed to get ahead of him. Once I did that I tried to make a break, but I was making stupid errors everywhere and that let Hofmann catch me. He's on a similar level of bike and the same tyres and once he got by me I was determined not to let him beat me. I was killing him under brakes at the end of the back straight and on the last lap I got a really good drive onto the straight, so I was ready to attack. I tried to go up the inside to outbrake him, but he knew I was there and moved over that way, so then I went to the outside to ride around him. But he came back onto the racing line as he is entitled to do and our bikes touched. I really tried to save it, but I ran off the track, past the cones and hit the tyre wall where I dropped the bike. But I kept hold of the throttle, got back on, spun it round, ran across the gravel trap and back onto the track. I wanted to save a championship point and I guess I did. I had a lot of fun."

GARRY TAYLOR, Team Manager: "It was a great feeling to see a Suzuki back in the lead at that first lap, but it was predictable that Kenny would get picked off down the straight. Nobody got past him in the corners. The tyres performed well and it was good to see our tyre partners Bridgestone get a first win. It wasn't our bike in front but we're getting closer over race distance. John had a good race and obviously enjoyed it. When he is used to the new engine, I'm sure his results will improve. As it is, he took a point even though he had a last-lap get-off which shows how determined he is."

Yamaha

Fortuna Gauloises Tech3 rider Norick Abe rode to a gritty eighth place here in sweltering Rio, Brazil; the Japanese rider finding himself the first Yamaha across the line after Valentino Rossi (DNF) crashed out on lap 13, while lying fourth. The result has left the championship wide open after Rossi’s main rival Sete Gibernau (Honda) also ending the day in the gravel trap in the early stages of the 24-lap race. Interestingly both riders fell on the same corner.

The 24-lap race began brightly for Rossi, the reigning World Champion, as he jumped from a starting position on the third row to fifth place at the very first corner. Sooner after his main championship rival Gibernau crashed out on lap two, just as Rossi began to really turn up the pace on his Yamaha YZR-M1. Moving up to fourth and past pole position man Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) after passing up the inside at turn one, Rossi seized a chance to pass Alex Barros (Honda) and began the task of reducing the 1.6 second gap to race leaders Max Biaggi (Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Honda).

Simultaneously Rossi defended pressure from eventual race winner Makoto Tamada (Honda) while still cutting the gap to 0.8 seconds on lap ten, a mistake on the 12th lap allowed Tamada to pass for third. Pushing hard to stay in contention for a podium, Rossi fell the following lap – at the last left hand corner on the 4.933km Jacarepagua circuit.

Excellent progress from the determined Checa, 12th in qualifying, put him up to ninth after a quarter race distance, until Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3) ran both riders onto the grass while attempting an out-braking manoeuvre. Battling his way back on track Checa was to finish tenth overall. The race win was taken by Tamada, his first win in the premier class, Biaggi second and Hayden third.

Melandri eventually finished 13th after struggling with his vision – due to leaking coolant getting onto his visor. Despite his raceday misfortune Rossi still leads the championship, sharing a 126-point total with Gibernau – ahead because of his better win ratio of 4 to 2.

Norick Abe (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3), eighth “A tough race. I made so many mistakes at the start. I was on the inside on the start grid, where the track was dirty, and I just got so much wheelspin that I was way down the order. Then I got going and passed a rider each lap. But by mid-race my rear tyre had gone off and although I was sliding a lot I knew Shinya (Nakano) was behind me and I couldn’t make any mistakes. I really wanted a podium and I thought I could get one because I like this track so much.”

Marco Melandri (Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3), 13th “The bike never felt good here. This was a tough race for all the Yamaha riders. I ran into Carlos (Checa) early on, and I’m really sorry about that. As for me, every time I was on the straight I kept getting some liquid on my visor and about seven or eight laps from the end I just couldn’t see, I couldn’t concentrate, and the grip had gone too. We’ve just got to move on now to Germany.”

Hervé Poncharal, Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 team director “We knew it would be a difficult day – and it was! Norick rode a good race, he was steady from beginning to end and he managed to stay in front of Shinya. It was a shame for Marco; it was not his weekend. On the last few laps he had a problem.

“I feel sorry for Valentino, but it was good that Norick was first Yamaha finisher. This was a tough weekend for Yamaha, but we move on now and we’ll surely get some better results before the summer break.”

Carlos Checa (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha), tenth “We seemed to change everything through the weekend and in warm-up, but I still didn’t feel comfortable. It was a difficult weekend. Here in Rio we had a very negative feeling from the beginning and this has not been the case anywhere else this year. During the race Melandri lost the rear and then could not brake properly as he tried to pass. He went straight on and then we touched. Luckily I saw him coming just as I was about to flick it in, I stood the bike up, we touched and then ran off the track. Luckily nothing happened and I don’t think it changed my race result. At that moment maybe I could have caught Capirossi but I could not have kept doing the lap time, as I was already at the limit.”

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha), DNF “We made some modifications before and after warm-up this morning. Even though I was riding better the set-up was still not quite right. What a shame. I lost the front and that was it. I haven’t fallen in a race since Mugello 2001. We’ve been having problems all through the weekend, but we were having a strong race and I felt I was catching the leaders. Even though I was up with the front group it was very difficult on the left hand corners. If I had managed to finish in fourth place it would have earned us some good points.”

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha team director ”Not a good day for us and we’ve had a difficult weekend trying to find the best settings for our machine. Valentino’s fall brought it to an end but that’s racing. It’s a missed opportunity because we could have gained some points on Sete. Valentino is a fighter and that is probably what has helped him get so many victories in the past but today it didn’t work out that way. The main thing is that we restart in Sachsenring still leading the championship, so that is the positive side of the story. For Carlos, he didn’t manage to get a good feeling from the machine, struggled all the race and could only finish tenth.”

Dorna

Makoto Tamada took his first ever MotoGP victory in a dramatic race at the Cinzano Rio Grand Prix which saw joint championship leaders Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau both crash out. With neither Rossi or Gibernau on the front row for the first time this season, both were forced to push hard to fight their way through the group as pole setter Kenny Roberts and Max Biaggi set the pace over the first lap. Gibernau's charge ended on the second lap when he crashed his Honda just moments after overtaking Rossi for fifth place, whilst the Italian's Yamaha slid out of fourth place some twelve laps later.

With Roberts dropping back through the group, Biaggi was chased for the lead by Nicky Hayden until four laps from the end, when a stunning late charge from Tamada sealed a first ever win for Bridgestone tyres, who took their first podium with the same rider at the same circuit less than a year ago.

"It was a perfect race - the set-up of the bike and the tyres were at the absolute maximum, the team have done a great job and I have completed the show," commented Tamada after the race, dedicating the win to the late Daijiro Kato, who would have been celebrating his birthday today. "This victory is dedicated to all of them and to my great friend Daijiro. I think this is the best way to honour his memory - I miss him. Thanks to Bridgestone for a great job which put me in conditions to be fast and effective all weekend up to the race."

Second place for Biaggi sealed a one-two for Camel Honda and moves the Italian to within just thirteen points of Gibernau and Rossi at the top of the standings, with Rossi still leading the way thanks to a superior win ratio. Nicky Hayden clinched his first podium of the season, the third of his career, in third place after pushing Biaggi and Tamada all the way to the line, with Loris Capirossi some eleven seconds behind in a lonely but welcome fourth place for Ducati.

Alex Barros was unable to challenge for the podium in front of his home crowd, suffering from the pain of a hand injury sustained in a practice crash on Friday afternoon. The Brazilian rode bravely to fifth place ahead of Honda colleague Colin Edwards, who now moves up to fourth in the championship after another top six finish.

Kenny Roberts took a best finish of the season for Suzuki in seventh place, just ahead of the first Yamaha, ridden by Norick Abe. Shinya Nakano brought his Kawasaki home in ninth, with Carlos Checa completing the top ten and consequently conceding fourth place in the rider standings to Edwards.

Manuel Poggiali broke the front fairing of his Aprilia as he smashed his first down in delight after clinching his first win of the season in the 250cc class. The reigning World Champion had not stood on the top step of the podium since victory at this circuit last season but announced his return with a bang, leading from the fourth lap under intense pressure from Dani Pedrosa. A mechanical problem for Randy De Puniet, which saw the Frenchman drop out of the battle for lead positions at the halfway stage and eventually cross the line in eighth, means that Pedrosa now leads the championship by eleven points.

Sebastian Porto also suffered a mechanical problem when pushing Poggiali and Pedrosa for the lead with just four laps remaining, failing to pick up any points at all and losing important ground in third place in the rider standings. Third place in today's race went to Toni Elias, who held off a late challenge from Alex De Angelis to seal the final podium position.

Hector Barberá won a typically combative and exciting 125cc race to the delight of the watching Brazilian football star Roberto Carlos, a major collaborator in the Seedorf Racing team. Other than a brief cameo from Jorge Lorenzo, who stormed to the front before crashing on the eleventh lap, Barberá shared the lead almost exclusively with Casey Stoner until a late charge from Andrea Dovizioso.

With Roberto Locatelli and Mirko Giansanti in close attendance but unable to mount a serious challenge, the last two laps were a desperate three-way battle for the line, with Barberá holding off Stoner for the win and Dovizioso completing the podium. Barberá's second victory of the season moves him up to second in the championship, sixteen points behind Dovizioso.

Repsol HRC

Nicky Hayden rode a textbook race today in Rio to secure his first podium of the year finishing behind debut race-winner Makoto Tamada and Max Biaggi to make it a Honda one/two/three. Alex Barros rode a courageous race to take fifth.

Hayden had been looking good all weekend and was impressive in race trim in the mornings warm up where the 22-year-old was second fastest behind Gibernau with team mate Barros fractionally slower finishing the 20- minute session third fastest.

Hayden made good start from his third front row of the season. At the end of the first lap he was lying in third place as he set about catching pole-man Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and Biaggi over the remaining 21 laps of the race over the bumpy 4.933km circuit on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

On the second lap, Biaggi and Hayden overtook Roberts and it remained this order for just over half the race until Tamada caught and overtook the American. A few laps later Tamada took the lead and it finished in this order with Hayden equalling his best ever MotoGP finish.

Barros had been shaking off the effects of his high-speed crash at Assen just over a week ago and although the 33-year-old admitted that he wasn’t 100% fit he felt he comfortable on his Honda RC211V for his 201st premier GP start in front of 55,000 of adoring fans.

At the unusually early time of 11.30am the Brazilian made a good start and circulated in third behind Hayden and Biaggi for five of the opening laps before trouble at the front end of his Honda RC211V forced him to drop the pace as he slipped back. His fifth place elevates him one place in the championship to sixth.

Joint championship leaders Sete Gibernau (Honda) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) both crashed out of the race without injury allowing the chasing pack to close the gap with seven of the 16 race championship now fought out.

Nicky Hayden - Position: 3rd - Best lap: 1'49.799 - “I’m happy. I’ve never got to finish a race from a front row MotoGP start. I definitely wanted a good solid finish today. It’s been a good weekend all the way through – to finish with a strong result is pleasing. The race was a lot of fun. Early I was right there with Max. I saw we were pulling away and I thought we were going to be OK. Then all of a sudden I saw ‘Tamada + zero’ on my board ; he just came from nowhere. Towards the end of the race I had a few big moments and I thought I needed to chill out a bit to get a result. It’s nice to finish on the podium but I’m not here for podiums or front row’s – I want to win races. I defiantly want to go the next level. I’ll take this result and build on it. Tamada did a great job as did my team.”

Alex Barros - Position: 5th - Best lap: 1'50.031 - “I’m very, very disappointed. After five laps I have big problems with the front end. The machine felt good in qualifying and in the warm up this morning we were in good shape but then in the race it was a disaster. I almost crashed four of five times. Just like Valentino sand Sete. I was very lucky to stay on two wheels. For the rest of the race I can do nothing. It was very hard to turn the machine; we had to use more angle to turn the machine; more angle equals less grip. The combination makes it very difficult. We need to look at the data with the team and Michelin and move forward. We are nearly half way through the season and still the results don’t come yet. We need to do something to improve our chances. I am sorry for all the fans who give me such support here, and for the team who worked so hard.”

Proton Team KR

Proton Team KR riders Nobuatsu Aoki and Kurtis Roberts overcame grip issues to claim a double finish at today’s Rio GP, although both falling short of the target of adding more championship points to the team’s score.

Although not competitive, lacking both horsepower and grip at the notoriously bumpy and slippery 4.933km Nelson Piquet circuit, both riders kept pushing to the end, adding laps, knowledge and data to the development programme of both the Dunlop tyres and the Mk2 version of the England-built V5 MotoGP racer.

Aoki fared better than his class-rookie team-mate, running strongly in the early part of the race in pursuit of Aprilia rider Shakey Byrne. Roberts was a couple of seconds behind for most of the race.

After half distance, however, Aoki’s rear tyre started sliding badly, and his challenge was over. Roberts was suffering similar difficulties, and finished 12 seconds behind his team-mate.

The MotoGP race, the main event, was uniquely held first in the day, to avoid TV clashes with the French F1 GP and the Euro 2004 soccer final. The expected cooler conditions did not materialise, with blazing sunshine giving track temperatures almost as high as in the afternoon practice sessions on the previous days.

With joint points leaders Sete Gibernau (Honda) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) both crashing out, the race was a first victory for Japanese rider Makoto Tamada. The thrilling battle for the lead was watched by a big crowd of 55,000 fans. The next race is the German GP three weeks from now.

NOBUATSU AOKI - "Things were going quite well for the first ten laps or so, and I was chasing Shakey Byrne, and thinking I might just get a chance to catch him. Then big rear tyre problems started, and after that it was so tough. The bike was going sideways, with no grip. It was disappointing, because these latest tyres worked well in similar conditions in Barcelona when we tested them."

KURTIS ROBERTS - "I’m really not happy right now. We finished the race, but it seems we never have a time that we don’t have some difficulty or another. It’s just not happening at all for me right now. In the race, my rear tyre was sliding badly. There’s more work to do with tyre development, and they’re not ready yet. We need to figure something out soon."

CHUCK AKSLAND - "We knew this race would be tough. As I said yesterday, we need more horsepower and more grip. We’re working on both those areas. Today we’ll have to be happy that both bikes finished in tough conditions."

KTM

In 125cc as always the riders were fighting shoulder to shoulder from the first to the last lap. Stoner finished 2nd overall while Kallio closed 8th . The winner is the Spanish Hector Barbera.

Stoner – "It would have been nice to win the race. I did my best; we worked hard all the weekend to find a good setting but unfortunately during the last laps of the race I wasn’t able to pass Barbera. I’m quite happy anyway!"

Kallio – "I had problems with the rear tyre and I couldn’t manage to recover the gap I had with the first group. I know I can be with the first ones and I hope I’ll prove it in the next Grand Prix."

Bartol – "It would been nice to win the race but I’m happy with the today results. We are improving time by time and we hope we’ll get the first victory soon."