MOTOPROGP

Randy De Puniet :

A correct start and a first third of the race to hold his past position of seventh for the first Grand Prix of Qatar interesting for the French Randy. Unfortunately, it's the other side of the balance who began to tilt because of a front tire prematurely losing grip and forcing the LCR Honda pilot excessive caution. A fall is not far past and Randy has wisely chosen to make the pass after a Toseland began to go out, for just a tenth place is the minimum that he could expect.

"I must confess that I am still a little disappointed because I was honestly a better result here after what I had done during the tests" recognizes Randy."I made a good start, really, and I thought then that the race would be conducted differently and be easier for me."

"But I suddenly missed adhesion with my front my tire. It has even proved dangerous during the race and I did what I could to reach the finish line in those terms. More strange that I never had those feelings on my testing weekend, it's like if I rode with a softer rubber compound. "

"The goal I had set for inclusion in the Top 10 is reached, for sure, but the performance could have been different with different circumstances. We will now proceed to detail with all the data acquired in Qatar to arrive in Japan in the best possible arrangements. "

Alex De Angelis :

The first Grand Prix of the season and the history of motor speed to be held on a Monday because of a too watered Sunday was an opportunity to see the first big year of friendship bind. With his rough style, Alex de Angelis has indeed made his mark in the sixth position , a good performance in absolute terms with his Honda Gresini except that during his journey, he was at least in a male excess at the expense of an official HRC Pedrosa, not physically but technically .

On a acceleration At the left exit, the San Marino rider has gone heavily on the Spaniard who has lost his balance before miraculously restoring the situation. A scene that has generated much emotion in the clan of winged shield, but has not raised eyebrows on the Commissioners and no sanction imposed after the race. And that's what Alex holds:

"I was summoned by the race to give my version of the collision with Dani, but there was no complaint against me then it is nothing serious." As for the Gresini boss, I did not understand: "It's a pity that there was a collision with Pedrosa - I do not know what exactly happened but it is clear that Alex has not done intentionally. "

Valentino Rossi :

If the extra day has finally allowed the Ducati team to refine the right settings for his idol Casey Stoner, it was not, however, with the advantage of the Official Yamaha team who has lost some of his magnificent, with the track cleaned after a flood which was Monday the arch of a Moto GP ready to drink the cup:

"The track conditions were a little different than we had before and we had some problems with the tires during the warm-up, so we had to change strategy. It's a pity because I think we could put a better fight on Sunday evening acknowledged the prodigy of Yamaha.

To counteract the ogre Stoner, we should have like at Laguna Seca last year, start from the green light like angry wolf. To bad the start was not ideal and the Ducati was able to take input powder to escape: "I knew we had to take a good start to follow Stoner but I have unfortunately failed and I lost some time fighting against Lorenzo and Capirossi. Meanwhile Stoner had already escaped. "

"The middle of the race was very exciting and I made six or seven good rounds to get closer, but I knew I could not continue at this pace, it was too risky for the tires. I decided that the most important is to take the 20 points. "At Motegi on April 26, the Yamaha pilot will be more determined than ever to add five more points to his 20.

Gorge Lorenzo :

Third in a Grand Prix is certainly not in itself a bad result. But complete enough of the two pilots before that we would not see all the victories disputer leaves a bitter taste in the helmet. In fact, Jorge Lorenzo was only moderately satisfied with his performance Qatar, the extraordinary country where you do the race at night when the desert is watered by rain. For it is well recognized that the accounting exercise carried out in the championship after the checkered flag lowered weighed heavy not face the gap that separated the leading duo.

It is worth saying that the official driver of the M1 (Rossi) has not had a happy start . He fell in into the hands of Capirossi and Dovizioso witch he had great difficulty to get rid of. Once done, the train had passed long ago.

"I enjoyed some moments of the race and I made some good overtaking. I therefore feel confident enough to take some risks. The adhesion was good but my rear tire was moving from the start, then we will study it and find a solution "lamented the Spanish.

Then comes the obvious conclusion: "The gap between Stoner and myself is much too important. We have to work again and again, because we have problems to solve if we want to have our chances at Motegi. For now, there are two drivers in front . "

Casey Stoner

If, for reasons of budget management which faced its fiber apparent good father in the field, Casey Stoner did not favor the race on Monday, forcing the troops to camp for a day longer in the Qatari desert , he acknowledged, after his third consecutive victory on the circuit of Losail, that these 24.00 hrs period had been beneficial in the development of his Ducati. A GP9 which, however, has also proved quite greedy in fuel. lessons that should kept in mind throughout this new 2009 season witch looks indecisive:

"With these shortened test sessions, we had trouble finding the ideal settings" recognizes the 2007 World Champion . "But during the second meeting, we have worked so well that we were more confident than before."

And we saw the result, although I had to be careful with the consumption of the beautiful red: "We had a small problem of consumption, and the team told me to ride less aggressive to save my fuel. I tried to move faster in the turns and drive using higher gears, but after the tenth round that was not enough. I still had to change my driving style, which was finally enough. "

Finally, Stoner reassured his world on the status of a wrist he deems sufficient to drive. It remains only now to improve his overall fitness to find his best level.

Andrea Devizioso

Third at the warming session, Andrea Dovizioso was soon brought to the same position at the beginning of the Grand Prix of Qatar who paid for it self the luxury of opening the season of Moto GP on a Monday. Rapid and seemingly constant, the Italian has been a long time illusion appearing as the possible surprise of this race witch had already surprise us a lot so far.

But once past the first third of the race, the Honda has collapsed as, to the surprise of the HRC driver who would have seen him self on the podium. Instead, he ended up fifth in either a withdrawal of its performance last year. As a taste of unfinished business:

"I did not have a very good start but I could quickly pass the drivers and be in the top three" begins Andrea. "During the first three laps, the bike was really powerful, like it was at the warming. I tried to keep in touch with Valentino, then I started to lose grip on the front. "

"At first I had difficulty in entering the turn, then in the middle of them I could hardly turn. I tried to compensate with the back which made me seriously slow down the pace. We have never experienced this problem when testing in pre-season or during the test sessions. We need to understand what happened and continue to work to adapt the bike to the best tires at the next race in Japan. "

Loris capirossi

Good winter tests, an initial meeting and encouraging a final warm-up meeting interesting, everything seemed to announce the best for the blue Suzuki. but! Supporters of the GSV-R will bring home only the points of a seventh place of a Grand Prix of Qatar, with 'Vermeulen. A second time. The fault a his bike witch has unrecognizable destroy his front tire prematurely:

"The front tire does not behave as usual, I finished 25 or 30 laps with the same tire and I had good feelings, but today I felt that they had died on me After five rounds! "Begins a Loris necessarily disappointed. "It was strange today because the testing had gone well and I started to have a big problem with vibrations during the warm-up, it did not happen during the weekend, and it continued during the race. "

"I am really sorry for the whole team, because everyone has worked very hard all winter and it went pretty well, so it's a little hard. We must concentrate on the next round and clarify what happened today. "A study that Honda will also dissect the race Dovizioso.

Colin Edwards

Sixth position Before the light when greens, its in ninth position that Colin Edwards began his Qatari course, the first season of Moto GP. A missed departure at this point that could have been fatal, as each meter account in this pack of furious: "I thought i had a good start but everyone I passed me" regretted Colin it was therefore difficult to remove my self from the pact. But he has come to power, to better exclude competition. And that was done with some intelligence:

"The track conditions were good given the rain we had Sunday night and I tried to be smooth and not too user tire. It worked because when I caught up Dovizioso, I saw he had problems. When I pass him to move into fourth position, Jorge was already far away and I would have had to make a big mistake to get closer, but I continued to attack. "

"I may be able to keep pace with Jorge if I made a good start, but it's too easy to say this now. I'm not saying that I could fight against Lorenzo, because he has driven very well, but I would have liked to try. "Let it be said, It’s an ambitious Colin we have this year.

Nicky Hayden :

Of repeated technical problems, a impressive fall at 200 km / h which had crumpled his back and caused deep wounds to the torso, the first rendezvous of the year in Qatar has been very difficult for Nicky Hayden who also opened the season with Ducati. But the American’s not the type to give up the face of adversity and his GP9 witch was not necessarily more docile on Monday at the the Grand Prix. At least this extra day, allowed him to be slightly less in bad shape on a sixteenth row on the starting grid.

After a race full of tenacity, the Kentucky Kid, came to take the points in the twelfth position, just behind his former teammate Pedrosa, not much better physically, and he would have liked, for the principle, chew him out on finish line.

"I wood enjoyed beating Dani on the finish line, but I think the team has shown that we are far from abandoning even if we had a lot of problems," said the 2006 World Champion. "The weekend was difficult, we had many problems and a high side at 200 km/h will do, but nothing was really good."

"I was quite slow at the beginning of the race, I did not take a great start but I was feeling better when the fuel has decreased and I started to go faster, so my five or six laps were my best throughout the weekend. "

"I hope that our concerns have been completed and Casey has proven the potential of the bike. Strange as it may sound, I go by in a good mood and I'm looking forward to racing at Motegi. "

Mika Kallio :

Mika Kallio was the best junior Moto GP this year at the first Grand Prix of the season in Qatar. Better still, he was even presented as an attractive hedge for a team that Ducati has still not found a duplicate of his devil Stoner. Qualified tenth before starting the race in twelfth position, the young Finn has cleverly constructed his course to pass the checkered flag in eighth position chasing the Suzuki Chris Vermeulen. A solid performance that did not leave indifferent .

"We're really happy with Mika, because in addition to finish eighth, it was not far from the pace of the pilots who were in front of him. Unfortunately it has not taken a very good start and lost time in the first round, otherwise he would have probably get a better result. We are satisfied because he has maintained a good pace for his first race "said the team's technical director, Fabiano Sterlacchini.

"Before coming here I thought a score in the top ten would be satisfactory, then the eighth place is really a good result. Mika ,I have not made a bright start, but I managed to keep a good pace after that. I tried to make up the time with the group in front of me, but after a few laps I decided to keep my pace, a strategy that has paid of, "said the Mika.

"In the last laps, I realized that I was closer to Vermeulen and I think I could pass him with a few laps more. Overall the weekend has been positive and we will continue on this path in Japan. "

Yuki Takahashi :

Scot Racing Team MotoGP's Yuki Takahashi scored a point in his MotoGP debut.

The former 250cc campaigner treated his first race like a master class, learning from the rest of the more experienced field.

Mostly he learned about dealing with the front end and braking in what was his longest ever ride on a GP machine.

In his MotoGP debut, Yuki Takahashi finished 15th and said: "The best came at the end, when I had a chance to follow Marco Melandri for a long while. I studied him, and I got a lot of information about how to deal with the front tyre and about braking points. Don't forget that this is my first race in the MotoGP class. Not only that, but I never did a long run before. I'm satisfied. My target was learning the bike and how to compete against the best riders in the world. How to deal in the heat of the first laps, and strategies, and tactics. At the beginning I lost a little time, but I did not want to make any silly mistake.

And at the end I was able to keep the same pace of the riders who were in the first groups. And now, let's prepare for my home race, in 13 days, in Japan."

Sete Gibernau :

Finish was the only goal for the pilot of the Nieto family. Therefore, crossing the finish line of Qatar by scoring points for Gibernau is the icing on the cake. Remains the fitness problem by withdrawing from the competition in 2006, so that we can worry about how long it will be said by observing his performance on the Ducati Group Hernando with Gibernau.

"The race was difficult for us," acknowledges Sete. "I am satisfied because I did not expect to complete the race and we even scored some points, I could not ask for any better. I can not say that I was comfortable on the bike because I had to fight against pain but I'm happy to have scored better than we hoped. "

"We could not gauge the potential of the Ducati because I was not in shape enough to push 100%. I was obviously a bit tense at the start of the race but I calmed down and I just tried to finish the race. "Regarding the future:" By the next race in Japan, I want to stay at home and train a little more using one of my bikes to gain good condition and physique.” There is a long way to go.

Tonis Elias

If the Gresini team can be reasonably satisfied with a sixth place as best result back to a Grand Prix of Qatar that the pilot the first HRC pilot Andrea Dovizioso, has concluded only at one better, he can ask subsequent questions on the events, witch was made by Alex De Angelis.

However, San Marino, now that Monday night in the desert's best friend Dani Pedrosa, with a changing client RC212V, the same is said limited engine revolutions. The other Honda Fausto troops, with an official and therefore faster at first, devoted to Toni Elias, was a tone below, simply enter in just the first ten. A situation that defies all logic, but the Spaniard says:

"We had a big problem with the chassis and suspensions, which has accelerated tire wear. For now our main problem. Ninth is not the kind of result we seek, but given the circumstances we have secured valuable points. "

"For us it might have been better as the race is canceled because we knew it was going to be difficult, but if you had offered me the ninth Friday, I would have surely accepted. With the team and possibly a little help from Honda we'll see if we can better prepare for the race in Japan. "

Christ Vermeulen :

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP's Chris Vermeulen equalled his best-ever result at Losail in Qatar by racing his Suzuki GSV-R to seventh place.

Vermeulen got a good start from the third row of the grid and was up with the leading group early on. As the race settled down he was involved in a number of battles with various riders and fought all the way to the line to score his - and Rizla Suzuki's - first points of the 2009 MotoGP season.

"I made a good start and got into a good group of guys straight away and I was hoping to stay there. The track conditions were a bit different to what it had been all weekend and it was very different to the test which was how I had the bike set-up, and to be honest I really struggled for front-end feeling”, he said. “Towards the end of the race the rear tyre performance dropped off as well so that's something we've really got to work on. It's hard though with the lack of testing in race conditions and also on race weekend's with the sessions being shorter and there being less of them, it makes it very difficult to put race distance on the tyres and to iron out any other problems. It was not the result we wanted because we were hoping to be in the top-five. We have got quite a bit of work to do to catch up to the podium so we need to put our thinking caps on and go to Motegi and have a better performance!"

Loris Capirossi had a less successful race, as he crashed out on lap eight. Starting from fifth on the grid Capirossi got off the line very well and was up into second place by the first corner - a position he held for the first two laps. As the race wore on he experienced a dramatic loss in front tyre performance and eventually lost the front-end of the bike and crashed. Suzuki's tough Italian walked away unhurt from the high-speed crash and will be fit for the next round in two week's time.

"I feel really sorry for the whole team, because all winter we have worked so hard and have gone quite well so this was hard to take. It was really strange today because our practice has been good, but in this evening's warm-up I had a big problem with chatter, this hadn't happened all weekend and then during the race it was the same”, he explained. “The front tyre didn't work like normal either, I had done 25 to 30 laps on the same tyre with no problems and the feeling had always been good, but today after just five laps it felt like it was destroyed! This race is over now and we have to concentrate on the next one and find out why the things that happened today occurred."

Monday's race was held in dry and fine conditions with track and air temperatures both in the 20ºCs, stark contrast to Sunday's torrential downpour that led to the race being postponed and rescheduled for today. Ducati's Casey Stoner led the race from start to finish to record his third successive victory at the Qatari circuit.

Rizla Suzuki now travels to Suzuki's home Grand Prix in Japan, which will be held at the Motegi Twin Ring Circuit on Sunday 26th April.

Canepa :

Kallio and Canepa hero in anonymity, the results of the Pramac Ducati team took on the appearance of thermal shock in the desert of Qatar, which has already delivered on his desert weather. Never in the pace, skill and discretion in making the representation in the race, the Super stock rider series which has a year as a test pilot experience his not to be blamed in Moto GP, given the impression of falling the last rain. Niccolo still doing its job, he drove without any break, trying to store up experience:

"It was not very well for us," noted the Italian in taking notes of his performance. "In the pre-season tests, we lacked something to be in the top ten, and our race pace was confirmed Monday. We came here confident, but nothing has worked as we wanted. "

"We can not put the blame on the bike because it is only half of the problem and we must continue to work hard to find a good configuration. "

A work that may yet be even more difficult during the next visit to Japan: "I should first learn the track. It will be difficult because I knew the Losail track before the Grand Prix at Motegi but I will have to learn the track as soon as possible. "

More about night race in Qatar - Losail

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

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