FIM MotoGP World Championship Mugello, Italy June 1, 2008 Race Results: 1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Bridgestone, 23 laps, 42:31.153 2. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, -2.201 3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, -4.867 4. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), Bridgestone, -6.313 5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, -12.530 6. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), Michelin, -13.806 7. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -14.447 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), Michelin, -15.319 9. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Bridgestone, -15.327 10. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -30.785 11. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati), Bridgestone, -39.621 12. Toni ELIAS (Ducati), Bridgestone, -50.021 13. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, -50.440 14. Tadayuki OKADA (Honda), Michelin, -58.849 15. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -60.736 16. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), Michelin, -17 laps, DNF, crash 17. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -17 laps, DNF, crash 18. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), Michelin, -18 laps, DNF, crash 19. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati), Bridgestone, -18 laps, DNF, crash MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (after 6 of 18 rounds): 1. Rossi, 122 points 2. Pedrosa, 110 3. Lorenzo, 94 4. Stoner, 76 5. Edwards, 58 6. Capirossi, 51 7. Dovizioso, 44 8. Toseland, 43 9. Hayden, 40 10. Nakano, 35 11. Vermeulen, 31 12. Hopkins, 26 13. TIE, De Angelis/Melandri/Elias, 24 16. De Puniet, 18 17. Guintoli, 12 18. West, 6 19. Okada, 2 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Amidst blazing sunshine and starting from pole position at a track where he had been untouchable for the past six years, Valentino Rossi claimed a third consecutive victory of the season in the Gran Premio d´Italia Alice. The script had been written, but it was still up to the Fiat Yamaha rider to perform when the lights went out. Taking the lead from 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner on the fourth lap, Rossi then set about creating a gap between himself and the chasing pack. He did so with a series of increasingly faster times, and eventually crossed the line with a comfortable advantage for Mugello premier class victory number seven. His rivals must now wait another year to attempt to dethrone the `King of Mugello´. The supporting cast to the Rossi show was headed by Ducati Marlboro rider Stoner, on the podium at Mugello for only the second time in his Grand Prix career. The result helps Stoner make up ground in the MotoGP standings, in which he maintains fourth place but narrows the gap between himself and Jorge Lorenzo. Second in the World Championship, Dani Pedrosa completed the podium places, having got off to a fantastic start courtesy of his Repsol Honda RC212V. The Spaniard will next week be chasing victory on home soil in Catalunya. A best result of 2008 for Alex de Angelis was another reason for Italian fans who had seen home victories in all three classes- to be cheerful, with the San Carlo Honda Gresini man taking fourth place. The San Marino-born rider was riding what was effectively his local race, and had shown his cards early with the fastest time in the morning warmup. The Tech 3 Yamaha duo of Colin Edwards and James Toseland were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Rizla Suzuki´s front row starter Loris Capirossi and Italian JiR Team Scot rookie Andrea Dovizioso. Before the halfway point there were a number of riders withdrawing from the action. First out were Marco Melandri and Randy de Puniet, both sliding off track whilst battling amongst themselves. They were followed by Kawasaki rider John Hopkins and, in a blow to his world title chances, second Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo. A lowside by the Spaniard left him with a DNF mark by his name for the first time in his MotoGP career. Valentino Rossi Race Winner “It’s a great feeling, like always. A lot of my family and close friends have come to see me. I tried to push hard and my Yamaha and Brigestone worked very well, right to the end. During part of the race I was faster than Stoner, but he came back and made me work hard. It´s wonderful to be on the podium with two very strong riders.” Marco Simoncelli provided the home fans with their second Italian victory of the day in the 250cc class, his first in the quarter litre category. Involved in a two-way fight with Hector Barbera for the duration of the race, a home straight crash by the Spaniard left the last lap decidedly more comfortable for the Metis Gilera rider. Simoncelli and Barbera had exchanged harsh words and almost come to blows at last year´s visit to Mugello, but they left their latest clash until the start of the final lap. Trailing the eventual race winner, Barbera clipped his rival´s bike and was thrown off his own in a 100th Grand Prix heartbreak for the Team Toth rider. The fall elevated Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon to second place, with the Le Mans racewinner himself involved in a duel with Thomas Luthi over the course of the 21 lap showdown. Missing out on second place, Luthi contented himself with a first podium in the 250cc class, from eighth on the grid. Crashes from the likes of early leader Alvaro Bautista and front pack runners Hector Faubel, Lukas Pesek, Manuel Poggiali and Yuki Takahashi gave a welcome boost to World Championship leader Mika Kallio. The Red Bull KTM rider had a second consecutive race off the podium at a difficult track for his Austrian machinery, but still holds the advantage in the quarter litre class courtesy of fourth place. Polaris World´s Mattia Pasini and second Metis Gilera man Roberto Locatelli added to the home presence in the top six. Cardion AB´s Czech rider Karel Abraham took a best dry result of seventh place, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama ran wide on the final lap battling with teammate Kallio and dropped down the order. Aleix Espargaro and Ratthapark Wilairot completed the first ten past the chequered flag. A home race win and the lead of the 125cc World Championship was just reward for Simone Corsi, coming out on top in a sprint to the line. The Jack&Jones WRB Italian star made a phenomenal move at the start of the twentieth and final lap and held on for his third win of the 2008 season. As the riders had expected, the race was almost as tightly packed as the Mugello grandstands, with nobody able to break away even by the midway stage. Battles for the lead took place at every corner for the duration of the race, leaving a last lap sprint between the lower cylinder class stars to decide the final placings. Never one to shy away from a risky manoeuvre, Corsi took a gamble to pass four of his lower cylinder class rivals, and on this occasion fortune favoured the brave. Unable to break away after taking the holeshot, World Champion Gabor Talmacsi also left it late, the Bancaja Aspar rider pick-pocketing Pol Espargaro by little more than a wheel´s length as the podium places were decided. Belson Derbi rider Espargaro took his second rostrum of the season, the youngster supervised by his older rivals in taking a deserved swig of the Cava after an exhausting effort. Conceding the lead in the standings by virtue of race wins, Mike di Meglio was off the podium for the first time in three races in fourth place, whilst fifth went to a rider favoured to win heading into the final lap. Polaris World rider Bradley Smith held the lead as the riders prepared for the ultimate time around the track, but the injured Briton conceded the place and a spot on the podium. Sergio Gadea, Nico Terol, Sandro Cortese, Joan Olive and Stefan Bradl completed the top ten, separated by less than 5.5 seconds from Corsi. More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER STORMS BACK TO THE PODIUM AT MUGELLO AS MELANDRI’S LUCK RUNS OUT AGAIN Casey Stoner played a starring role in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, where he claimed an outstanding second place following a hard-fought battle with Dani Pedrosa. Unfortunately his team-mate Marco Melandri was forced to retire on the fifth lap after running straight into the gravel when avoiding a stricken Randy De Puniet, who had crashed in front of him following contact with Chris Vermeulen. Stoner stormed to his first Mugello podium in MotoGP, his third of the season, and a result that cuts back the gap in the championship to Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. The reigning World Champion currently lies fourth overall, 46 points adrift of Valentino Rossi, 34 shy of Pedrosa and 18 back from Lorenzo. The next appointment in the Ducati Marlboro Team diary is just five days away, when free practice starts for the seventh round of the season at the Circuit de Catalunya, on the doorstep of the beautiful city of Barcelona. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd “I was disappointed not to be on the podium in my first race here for Ducati last season so this makes up for it and it’s a chance for me to say ‘thank you’ to Ducati and all the Ducatisti for their support. We’ve had some problems over the first few races of this season but at Le Mans and here we’ve found a more comfortable set-up and a bike that is really competitive. Today was an awesome race. I led from the start but I didn’t want to push too hard because the front tyre took a few laps to bed in. Valentino came past in a section of the circuit where I was losing a little bit too much time – I was trying to make it up around the rest of the track but pushed it too much into turn one, ran wide and lost touch with Valentino. We knew the setting of the bike would be more suited to the final few laps and we expected to be strong but unfortunately I’d fallen a little bit too far behind. Even so, second place is a great result and it gives us a real boost going to Catalunya.” MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro Team) DNF “De Puniet made contact with Vermeulen and crashed right in front of me. I was to the left of him so I tried to dive to the inside but there wasn’t enough space. I had to go so wide so that I didn’t run over Randy that I ran off track but I was going at speed and crashed. It was a shame because I’d made a decent start and passed a few riders, things were going better than they had in practice but now we’ll never know if I could have kept it up over race distance. Will look at starting out in Barcelona with the same set-up we found for the race today.” FILIPPO PREZIOSI General Director Ducati Corse “Congratulations to Casey for a fantastic race today and for his first podium at Mugello. It is an important result for him and for us. We’re really happy to see him smiling again and pleased that he’s rediscovered his feeling with the front, which has been missing on a few occasions. At the same time we’re all disappointed for Marco but we cannot give up: we have to keep working together to find the technical solutions that can help him find confidence with the bike. At Barcelona we’ll work on another small step with the engine regulations and I’m sure that when Marco finally gets a good feeling with the bike we’ll be able to make the most of the talent that we all know he possesses.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Solid results on challenging day for Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racers Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen both recorded top-10 positions in today’s Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Capirossi got a good start from the front row of the grid and was battling with the lead group in the early stages of the race, but as track temperatures rose to 50ºC, grip started to become a problem for the hard-riding Italian. Capirossi fought for every place right through to the chequered flag and brought his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home in seventh, to keep him in sixth place in the riders’ championship. Vermeulen got a good start from 11th on the grid, but was boxed out in the early part of the first lap and relegated down to 17th by the end of lap one. The Australian made his way through the field with some strong overtaking manoeuvres to get up to 10th place. Vermeulen was never challenged for the final top-10 position, but was too far behind the riders in front to make any further advancement. As he also suffered with some grip issues, he made sure of bringing his machine home safely to secure valuable championship points. Today’s race was held in warm sunshine with temperatures reaching 28ºC. A record crowd of over 96,000 at the Mugello circuit witnessed home-hero Valentino Rossi win his seventh successive Italian Grand Prix, and strengthen his lead at the top of the World Championship table. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now only has a few days before it is in action again, as it makes the short journey across Europe to Spain for the Catalonian Grand Prix in Barcelona next Sunday. Loris Capirossi: “I am very frustrated, because we tried to do our best and it should have been a better result for us today. I tried to stay with the three front guys for as long as I could, but I was losing a bit on the straights and I had to push really hard on the brakes and through the corners. We started to lose grip and I tried as hard as I could to finish as high as possible. I am not happy at all today and we will have to work hard with Suzuki, because sometimes our bike is good but sometimes over a longer distance we still need to work on some things to be able to make a challenge. The good thing though is that the whole team worked really hard this weekend and they are trying everything to make the bike work well.” Chris Vermeulen: “That was a really tough race with the track being so much hotter today. It’s been difficult all weekend with the changing conditions, and unfortunately with the lack of testing time and the heat we just didn’t have the grip that we wanted – which made the bike quite difficult to ride for the whole race. I got a good start but then got boxed in and pushed wide and ended up back in 17th. So to come through to 10th I felt like I rode well. I had to pass a lot of people and that is not easy around here, but hopefully we can find out what our problems from today were and learn from them for Barcelona next week.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It’s pretty clear that things didn’t get anywhere near our expectations today. Both riders suffered from essentially the same problem, which was a lack of grip. We need to understand as quickly as we can why the durability dropped away today. The weather over the weekend didn’t allow us to test in the conditions that we had in the race, but obviously our competitors were far less effected by the increase in temperatures than us. We must work hard with Suzuki’s engineers and with Bridgestone to achieve the consistency in the bike when conditions change. “Both of the guys gave everything today and right till the end Loris was fighting for every place, but the result was not near what he was capable of this weekend. The one good thing is that we only have a few days before we can put this behind us in Catalunya and get things moving in the right direction!” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDA’S PEDROSA TAKES HARD-FOUGHT THIRD Italian Grand Prix, Mugello Race day, Sunday June 1 2008 Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa rode a gutsy race in today’s Italian Grand Prix, battling back and forth with reigning World Champion Casey Stoner and eventually finishing third aboard his RC212V. Nicky Hayden had high hopes of a strong race following a promising performance in morning warm-up but the American ran into difficulties and came home an unlucky 13th. HRC test rider Tadayuki Okada did a sterling day’s work with Honda’s new pneumatic-valve-spring RC212V engine, scoring two World Championship points. Contesting his first GP in almost eight years, the 41-year-old gathered a full race of data that will help Pedrosa and Hayden decide which type of engine they will use at next weekend’s Catalan GP. Second quickest in qualifying, Pedrosa got another stunning start to lead the first two laps then played his part in a thrilling three-way contest with race winner Valentino Rossi and Stoner. After slipping to third for a while he moved back into second during the mid-stages of the race before finally returning to third place for 16 hard-fought World Championship points. After Mugello the MotoGP action switches to Spain for the following weekend’s Catalan GP outside Barcelona. This is MotoGP’s busiest period with six races over eight weekends. Dani Pedrosa finished 2nd, 2nd in World Championship “That was a really tough race because Valentino’s pace was very, very fast. I got a good start and the rhythm was really high, at first I was able to go with them, then I had a battle with Casey. I tried to catch him at the end but it was impossible. It was great to be on the podium, it’s a good result for the championship, but while consistency is always important, we need to win more races. The engine was good today, our main concern now is tyre consistency during the second part of races. I was losing the front towards the end of today’s race, so tyres are what we must focus on. It was very important that Okada finished today, gathering a lot of data which we will examine and discuss tonight. Valentino had his seventh win here today, I hope it will be my turn at Catalunya.” Nicky Hayden, finished 13th , 9th in World Championship “This morning we made a nice step, we made a suspension adjustment and the bike felt a lot better, so we had a pretty good pace. We were certainly unlucky in the race. I got an awesome start, felt pretty good, but it was clear from the beginning that we had a problem. Guys started coming past and there was nothing I could do, there was no way to defend. So I just tried to get to the finish and get a couple of points. They’re checking the data now to see exactly what happened. Like I said, we were quite unlucky, I knew we didn’t have Rossi’s pace this morning, but we had enough pace to be in there, to be quite competitive. I don’t know yet which engine I’ll be using next weekend. To be honest, I’ve been concentrating on this race, so I haven’t thought about it yet.” Tadayuki Okada, finished 14th, 19th in World Championship “We finished the race and this was the most important thing of all we have gathered plenty of data which we can now analyse. We still have some issues with edge grip and this is the next step to improve the engine the bike was sliding today so I couldn’t fully use its power. The engine’s strong point is its higher rev ceiling which gives an advantage on the straights, but we still need to improve driveability. My thanks to Repsol Honda and to HRC for all their work with this engine. It was very exciting for me to race in a GP again it felt really amazing when I crossed the finish line!” Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager “That was a hard race, but Dani fought at the front and got third, so he did a good job for the championship. Nicky was unlucky, so now we are checking the data to see what happened to his machine. We are very happy that Tady finished the race. We are also looking at his data, later we will talk to Dani and Nicky to discuss the engine plan for next weekend’s race. We will never give up our target is always to win.” More, from a pess release issued by Fiat Yamaha: SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR ROSSI AS HE TAKES RUNAWAY MUGELLO VICTORY Valentino Rossi brought the house down once again in Mugello today with an emotional seventh straight victory at his home track in front of 96,000 adoring fans. It was the Fiat Yamaha Team Rider’s ninth win in total and fifth for Yamaha at this track and also his third win in a row this season, the first time he has won three consecutive races since 2005. His 91st victory is also a first for Bridgestone at this track. Starting from pole for the first time in almost a year, Rossi set nerves on edge when he slipped a few places at the start, exiting turn one in fourth. He soon passed his compatriot Loris Capirossi however and crossed the line for the first time hot on the heels of Stoner and Pedrosa. Lap three saw him pass Pedrosa and then Stoner next time around, leaving him in the lead. From then on it was the Italian’s race and he stretched the gap to more than three seconds at one point, before rolling off slightly in the later stages as the temperature increased. He eventually crossed the line 2.201 seconds clear of Stoner, with his army of yellow-clad tifosi singing him home from the hillsides before invading the track, as is tradition here, and swarming under the podium. It was a day of contrasts for the Fiat Yamaha Team as Jorge Lorenzo, in his 100th Grand Prix, slid out of the race on lap seven when looking strong in sixth place. Rossi is now 12 points clear of Pedrosa at the top of the championship and Lorenzo is 16 points off him in third. The team now heads directly to Barcelona for the Catalunya Grand Prix in just seven day’s time. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 42’31.153 “After winning the championship, winning at Mugello is the next best thing for me and once again today it was like a dream. There is no way to describe the feeling I have standing on the podium in front of all of my fans here and I am so happy that I could win once again today. To win for the seventh time running at my home track is amazing but I felt quite a lot of pressure about this, so it’s a relief as well because I didn’t want to disappoint everyone! It’s been a hard weekend for everyone because of the bad weather and the lack of dry track time, but my crew have done a fantastic job with the bike and my M1 was wonderful today. Once I got to the front I was able to make a gap from the others but towards the end it was unbelievably hot and it became quite hard to ride. I wanted to ease off a bit but Casey was pushing hard behind so I had to keep going. Thanks to all of my team, to the engineers and of course to Bridgestone! I’m really glad that I’ve been the one to give them their first win at this track and they did a great job today because my tyre worked virtually the same from start to finish. It’s been a fantastic day, it’s always one of the best moments of the year for me and now we’ve made a bit more of the gap at the top of the championship so things couldn’t be better. Honestly after this weekend I think I would like to go to bed for five days but now we have to go straight to Barcelona!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “We did it! There has been a lot of pressure on us this weekend because everyone has been talking about Valentino’s six wins in a row and expecting him to make it seven, and I think everyone in the team has felt it. Well done to all of them for keeping focused throughout and providing Valentino with the tools to do the job; what a job he did! It’s wonderful to watch him ride like this at Mugello it seems no one can stop him here. We’ve had three wins in a row but there’s no time to relax as now we go straight to Barcelona for what we know will be another big battle.” Masahiko Nakajima Team Director “We have felt a lot of pressure here because we wanted Valentino to be able to continue his winning streak and we were worried that, if we lost, the Italians would be very angry with us! We made a huge effort and we are very happy because we have achieved one of the most important objectives of the early part of the season. Now we have many others to achieve and we have to find more energy for Catalunya next week. It’s clear that the Bridgestone and Yamaha combination and cooperation is well matched now and we have a lot of confidence in our bike. On behalf of Yamaha I would like to congratulate Valentino and all of the team staff.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO SUFFERS DISAPPOINTMENT IN MUGELLO Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo had a disappointing 100th Grand Prix today, crashing out of the Italian round of the championship on lap seven when running strongly in sixth place. His team-mate Valentino Rossi on the other hand took an outstanding victory, his seventh consecutive win at his home track. Lorenzo, who is still not quite at 100% after suffering two fractured ankles in China one month ago, had struggled all weekend to find a good set-up, hampered by the lack of dry track time after losing Friday and Saturday morning to rain. Starting from seventh however he seemed to have found a better rhythm and was lapping as fast as the leaders when he made a mistake at turn ten, lost the front and slid into the gravel trap. It was a frustrating end to the weekend for the young Spaniard who was hoping for more after already having taken three poles, a race win and three podiums since he joined Yamaha at the start of the season. Valentino Rossi’s maximum points haul today moves him 12 points clear at the top of the championship, whilst Lorenzo slips to third, 16 points behind Dani Pedrosa. He will not have to wait long to make up for today’s disappointment however as the paddock now heads straight to Barcelona and his home track for the Catalunya round next Sunday. Jorge Lorenzo Position: DNF Time: “We have had a lot of problems this weekend but today for the race I was feeling very motivated and I got a good start. I think I could have fought for the podium and I can only say sorry to my team and to all of my fans; it was my mistake. I shouldn’t have tried to pass Dovizioso in this corner, it wasn’t the right place and I will learn from it. I am not worried about my mental condition though and I am now focused on Catalunya. Montmelo is coming and this is a good thing because I only have to wait five days until I can ride the bike again. In China we had to make some changes to the bike to enable me to ride in my condition and since then maybe we haven’t been exactly right with the set-up, but now we know where the problem is. Congratulations to Rossi, he was the best today!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “Unfortunately this weekend has been very difficult for us and we weren’t able to improve the set-up of the bike enough. We made some changes in the warm-up however and it seemed Jorge had a better pace during the early laps than he has had all weekend. It’s a pity that he crashed but these things happen! Now we have to analyse all of the data from this weekend in order to find the right set-up for Barcelona so that we can give Jorge a good package for his home race. Thanks to all the team for doing a great job in difficult circumstances, unfortunately it wasn’t to be this weekend but we’re going to try to make up for it in Montmelo.” Masahiko Nakajima Team Director “I am very sorry for Jorge’s crash. We know that from Shanghai onwards he has had a very hard time, even if at the last two races he has been able to get great results, and due to this we’ve lost the direction for the bike setting a little bit. Also here in Mugello unfortunately we didn’t have enough dry conditions to find the right set-up. Despite today however we believe that we can improve this situation and find the right way forward and I know that we will be able to give Jorge a very good bike for his home race in Barcelona next week.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Bridgestone enjoys Mugello 1-2 with Rossi and Stoner Round 6: Italy Race Autodromo Internazionale di Mugello – Sunday 1 June 2008 Bridgestone-shod riders took a magnificent one-two in Mugello this afternoon with Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi winning by a 2.2 second margin from Ducati’s Casey Stoner. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa took the final podium place in third. The Italian GP victory continues Rossi’s enviable record at Mugello where he remains unbeaten in the MotoGP class, and marks his third consecutive win on Bridgestone tyres after recent success in China and France. It is also the first time that a rider on Bridgestone tyres has taken victory in Mugello. Stoner has enjoyed a competitive weekend in Ducati’s home grand prix and set the fastest lap of the race, a 1m50.003s, beating Max Biaggi’s record that dates back to 2005. He has been After topping the warm-up session this morning, Honda Gresini rider Alex de Angelis took an excellent fourth position in the race, closing the gap to third-placed Pedrosa in the closing laps. He finished only 1.5 seconds from the podium having been down in 14th position at the end of the opening lap. His team-mate Shinya Nakano completed a great weekend for Honda Gresini taking ninth place at the chequered flag less than three seconds from fifth place. Suzuki saw both riders in the top ten again with Loris Capirossi in seventh and Chris Vermeulen in tenth. With six riders and four different manufacturers represented in the top ten, two riders on the podium and the first pole position of the season, it has been a strong weekend for Bridgestone. Mixed weather conditions in the free practice sessions hindered race tyre preparations, but with track temperatures hitting close to fifty degrees this afternoon, most riders opted for hard specification rear tyres and medium spec fronts which performed competitively right to the end of the race, giving Bridgestone a boost as MotoGP heads back to Spain for next weekend’s Catalan GP. Hiroshi Yamada Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Sport Unit “What a great result. It is fantastic to see two Bridgestone riders on the top two steps of the podium for the first time this season . Valentino produced one of his trademark Mugello performances and his victory was a great achievement. With Valentino’s unbeaten record in Mugello, and his pole position from Saturday, we were under a lot of pressure today, so I am glad our tyres were up to the job. Ducati and Casey must also be praised for a great weekend and second place in their home GP. I am very happy that Casey could play such a prominent role in today’s race. Alex de Angelis was another standout ride this afternoon in fourth, so well done to him; to see Honda Gresini back on the pace is a testament to our ongoing co-operation. The atmosphere in Mugello is always very special but Valentino and Casey made it extra special for me today.” Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “I am very pleased with the performance of our tyres here in Mugello, which has historically not been one of our best circuits. We have never seen a rider on Bridgestone tyres take Mugello victory, so it is fantastic to see Valentino’s result this afternoon. Casey also challenged very hard all race and his second place was a great result. We have continued to work hard to improve the grip and performance of our tyres, but the bad weather this weekend has made life quite difficult. With such little dry running, we were not able to assess the performance of our latest specification tyres over longer runs, so the durability over the full race distance was encouraging. I’d like to thank all our teams for their support this weekend.” Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team Race Winner and Championship Leader “This win is a great feeling. I tried to push hard and my Yamaha and Bridgestone tyres worked very well from the start right to the end. I wanted to slow down a bit towards the end because of the heat but Casey was strong all the way, so I was forced to push. It’s wonderful to be on the podium with two very strong riders. We arrived to find the right set-up for the bike and the right tyre for these temperatures. It’s been a great race that I want to dedicate to everyone that came here today, it’s always very emotional.” Bridgestone-shod Riders’ Race Results and Tyre Choices at Race Start Pos. Rider Team Race Time Gap Front Tyre (all 16.5”) Rear Tyre (all 16.5”) P1 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 42m31.153s WINNER Slick-Medium Slick-Hard P2 Casey Stoner Ducati Corse 42m33.354s +2.201s Slick-Medium Slick-Hard P4 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m37.466s +6.313s Slick-Medium/Hard Slick-Hard P7 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m45.600s +14.447s Slick-Medium Slick-Hard P9 Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m46.480s +15.327s Slick-Medium/Hard Slick-Hard P10 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43m01.938s +30.785s Slick-Hard Slick-Hard P11 Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 43m10.774s +39.621s Slick-Medium Slick-Hard P12 Toni Elias Alice Team 43m21.174s +50.021s Slick-Medium Slick-Medium P15 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 43m31.889s +1m00.736s Slick-Medium Slick-Hard DNF John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 11m17.629s +17 laps Slick-Medium Slick-Hard DNF Marco Melandri Ducati Corse 9m26.358s +18 laps Slick-Medium Slick-Hard Weather: Dry Air 30°C, Track 50°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA BATTLES FOR THIRD, DE ANGELIS FOURTH Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) rode with steel today to score a vital podium as Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) won ahead of second-placed Casey Stoner (Ducati). And this ride keeps him in touch at the top of the points table as his ‘home’ race at Barcelona looms next weekend. Rossi controlled this race and neither Stoner in ‘home’ Ducati territory, nor the reliably rapid Dani, could mount a sustained challenge. But the hugely improved form of Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) was an encouraging element of this weekend. Dani shot to the front of the pack from the off in this 23-lapper and with Stoner on his tail, Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) third and Rossi fourth, only the veteran Italian Suzuki man would not figure on the rostrum. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V), who had qualified 13th was already up to seventh and De Angelis, who had started from tenth on the grid, was soon to get into a scorching race rhythm having been quickest during the morning warm-up session. Stoner took Dani for the lead on lap two as Dovi moved up to sixth past Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), who would crash on lap seven. One lap later Rossi snatched second from Dani as Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) gamely tried to hold onto fifth from the flying Dovi. De Angelis had found sustained speed by lap five and would be vying for seventh spot as Hayden laboured in tenth place. Tady Okada meanwhile in Repsol livery was 19th on the debut race outing for the pneumatic-valve-engined RC212V. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) crashed out on lap six as Dovi and Lorenzo repeated their fierce battles of 250 years for fifth, before Lorenzo overcooked things on the next lap and forfeited a points finish. De Angelis was now up to sixth and flying. By lap ten the San Marinese rider was fourth while more illustrious Honda men Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) and Hayden lay ninth and tenth. Dani, had taken second from Stoner while Rossi pressed on at the front, untroubled. The top three were now more than four seconds ahead of De Angelis. After Stoner edged back past Dani for second the podium order remained unchanged and the only movement in places of significance was maybe the dogged Dovi’s slide back to eighth after his early attack. Okada finished 14th to collect two World Championship points on the debut of the latest Honda MotoGP powerplant, a commendable result for the 41-year-old stalwart. Third-placed Dani said: “That was a really tough race because Valentino’s pace was very, very fast. I got a good start and the rhythm was really high, at first I was able to go with them, then I had a battle with Casey. I tried to catch him at the end but it was impossible. It was great to be on the podium, it’s a good result for the Championship, but while consistency is always important, we need to win more races. The engine was good today, our main concern now is tyre consistency during the second part of races. I was losing the front towards the end of today’s race, so tyres are what we must focus on.” De Angelis, fourth, said: “I am so happy with this result this has been an unforgettable day for me. I was fastest in the warm-up and then we’ve had this fantastic result in the race. We knew that the bike was running really well but we were a little down on top speed and we weren’t sure we could stick it out with the other riders in the early battle. Fourth place is a real bonus, especially in front of our home crowd and all the fans who came to support me.” Dovi, in eighth place, said: “Between yesterday and today we tried two kinds of tyre one hard that didn’t give me good grip feeling, and one medium that was better but with the possibility of the grip reducing at the end of the race. We considered our start position and chose the second tyre After a while it started to give less grip. If I didn’t have to go so quick from the start, maybe I would have chosen the first one, however it’s been a good race and I enjoyed very much the fight with Loris and he is a very good competitor.” Nakano finished ninth and said: “It was a difficult race for us today. The start wasn’t bad and I could see the lead group ahead of me so my intention was to try and catch them. Unfortunately I lost too much time behind Nicky Hayden and when you’re fighting like that it’s hard to keep a consistent rhythm. So basically I lost touch with the group ahead of me and lost the opportunity to finish any higher up.” Nicky Hayden, in 13th place, said: “This morning we made a nice step, we made a suspension adjustment and the bike felt a lot better, so we had a pretty good pace. We were certainly unlucky in the race. I got an awesome start, felt pretty good, but it was clear from the beginning that we had a problem. Guys started coming past and there was nothing I could do, there was no way to defend. So I just tried to get to the finish and get a couple of points.” Tadayuki Okada finished 14th and said: “We finished the race and this was the most important thing of all we have gathered plenty of data which we can now analyse. We still have some issues with edge grip and the next step is to improve the engine the bike was sliding today so I couldn’t fully use its power. The engine’s strong point is its higher rev ceiling which gives an advantage on the straights. But we still need to improve driveability. My thanks to Repsol Honda and to HRC for all their work with this engine, it was very exciting for me to race in a GP again. It felt really amazing when I crossed the finish line!” De Puniet, who crashed, said: “I am very disappointed because I made a very good start, probably the best of this season, and I was in the top ten on the first lap. But I immediately felt a strange feeling in the rear and the bike started to slide and bump. I tried to keep my position but it was not possible. Then, on lap six at turn two, I overtook Vermeulen but I crashed and suffered a small injury in my left little finger. It aches a lot now but it will be OK for Barcelona.” Valentino Rossi leads the World Championship order with 122 points to Dani’s 110. Lorenzo lies third with 94 points while reigning World Champion Casey Stoner has 76 in fourth. Catalunya, the seventh round of this 18-race series is next weekend. 250cc Grand Prix Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) won his home race and his first ever 250cc Grand Prix with a victory over Alex Debon with Thomas Luthi third (both Aprilia). But the fallers in this 21-lap race are maybe of more significance. Alvaro Bautista fell and could not rejoin the race on lap six, Lukas Pesek (Gilera) succumbed soon after, Yuki Takahashi (JiR Scot Honda RS250RW) was next, the determined Japanese man visiting the gravel in a bid to hang onto Debon and Luthi who were disputing third place. But the biggest upset was when Simoncelli led onto the straight for the final lap and felt Barbera clip his machine and tumble behind him. The Italian glanced behind him to see the Spaniard sliding along the tarmac then duly completed the final lap for the win. Among the benefactors of this attrition were series points leader Mika Kallio (KTM) who retained his overall lead by gradually inheriting fourth place. The points table now shows the Finn on top with 106, Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) who was fifth today second on 88 and Debon third with 79 points to Siomncelli’s 78 for fourth. Despite his no-score race Takahashi holds sixth place with 59 points. Takahashi said: “I did a very good start and took a lot of positions, pushing at maximum to stay with the lead group but always I had to brake hard to stay with the people ahead to recover in the corners what they would take from me on the straight and so it was very difficult to make any overtakes. When I was at half-race distance I started to have less rear grip and this hurt my race. The team signalled the KTMs were catching me and then just a few laps from the end during braking the front washed away and I fell. At Barcelona I want to run a good race for the team and get the result for them.” Ratthapark Wilairot (Stop And Go Racing RS250RW) finished tenth from 17th on the grid, his best result so far this season, and said: “I got a good start and held my position for the first lap and was cautious. But after a while I found a really good rhythm, my times improved and I gained a few places. I’m happy to finish 10th but I could have been ninth. With two laps to go they were showing the yellow flag and I was watching out for a faller. But for that I think I would have passed Espargaro. The bike was good today chassis- and suspension-wise. But on the straights I lacked a little power and couldn’t pass the faster bikes from the slipstream.” 125cc Grand Prix This 20-lap race embodied all that is best about 125cc racing fierce and frantic action all the way down the field. The victory went to Italian native Simone Corsi with reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi (both Aprilia) second. Pol Espargaro (Derbi) was third. Talmacsi got the holeshot but it was not long before the rest of the field were on his tail and by mid-race distance a 12-rider lead group was covered by just over one second. This race would be tight throughout and the last lap would decide the outcome. British rider Bradley Smith (Aprilia) led the pack across the line on the final lap but he was overhauled into turn one by his rivals and never got back on terms at the sharp end. In the sprint finish for the line Corsi just got the verdict with the first three riders covered by a mere four thousandths of a second. Louis Rossi (FFM Racing Honda RS125R) finished 32nd and said: “I’m disappointed because I made a good start. I even managed to overtake Masbou in a tricky braking move. But then I wasn’t able to keep up with him or the pack I was in. I got caught out in the last bends and on the straight. We’re going to keep working to try and find solutions for the Grand Prix in Barcelona next weekend.” The World Championship points table now looks like this after six rounds: Corsi tied with Di Meglio (Aprilia), who was fourth today, on 87 points at the top and Nicolas Terol (Aprilia), who finished seventh here today, third on 75 points. Honda rider quotes GP Italy, June 1, 2008. MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd. “That was a really tough race because Valentino’s pace was very, very fast. I got a good start and the rhythm was really high, at first I was able to go with them, then I had a battle with Casey. I tried to catch him at the end but it was impossible. It was great to be on the podium, it’s a good result for the championship, but while consistency is always important, we need to win more races. The engine was good today, our main concern now is tyre consistency during the second part of races. I was losing the front towards the end of today’s race, so tyres are what we must focus on. It was very important that Okada finished today, gathering a lot of data which we will examine and discuss tonight. Valentino had his seventh win here today, I hope it will be my turn at Catalunya.” Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 4th. “I am so happy with this result, this has been an unforgettable day for me. I was fastest in the warm-up and then we’ve had this fantastic result in the race. We knew that the bike was running really well but we were a little down on top speed and we weren’t sure we could stick it out with the other riders in the early battle. I made a disastrous start and was down in fourteenth at the first turn but I refused to give in and at one point I even thought I was in with a shout of a podium because Pedrosa had lost touch with Stoner and he was lapping slower than me. Anyway that wasn’t to be and fourth place is a real bonus, especially in front of our home crowd and all the fans who came to support me.” Andrea Dovizioso, JiR Scot Honda: 8th. “It was a hard race, not just because of the physical strain, but also because the heat here was very high! I started like a sprinter, and I took a lot of positions and I had a good rhythm, but during the last laps the rear grip was getting less and less. Between yesterday and today we tried two kinds of tyres one hard that didn’t give me good grip feeling and one medium that was better but with the possibility of the grip reducing at the end of the race. We considered our start position and chose the second tyre that after a while it started to give less grip. If I didn’t have to go so quick from the start, maybe I would have chosen the first one, however it’s been a good race and I enjoyed very much the fight with Loris and he is a very good competitor. This morning I was not very well because my shoulder was in pain but after visiting the Clinca Mobile afterwards, during the race it felt very good. I’m satisfied about t! his result but we have to improve. I did a good race and this is important for all the team.” Shinya Nakano, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 9th. “It was a difficult race for us today. The start wasn’t bad and I could see the lead group ahead of me so my intention was to try and catch them. Unfortunately I lost too much time behind Nicky Hayden and when you’re fighting like that it’s hard to keep a consistent rhythm. So basically I lost touch with the group ahead of me and lost the opportunity to finish any higher up. I’m disappointed with the result here but confident about the Catalunya GP.” Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 13th “This morning we made a nice step, we made a suspension adjustment and the bike felt a lot better, so we had a pretty good pace. We were certainly unlucky in the race. I got an awesome start, felt pretty good, but it was clear from the beginning that we had a problem. Guys started coming past and there was nothing I could do, there was no way to defend. So I just tried to get to the finish and get a couple of points. They’re checking the data now to see exactly what happened. Like I said, we were quite unlucky, I knew we didn’t have Rossi’s pace this morning, but we had enough pace to be in there, to be quite competitive. I don’t know yet which engine I’ll be using next weekend. To be honest, I’ve been concentrating on this race, so I haven’t thought about it yet.” Tadayuki Okada, San Carlo Gresini Honda: 14th “We finished the race and this was the most important thing of all – we have gathered plenty of data which we can now analyse. We still have some issues with edge grip and this is the next step to improve the engine – the bike was sliding today so I couldn’t fully use its power. The engine’s strong point is its higher rev ceiling which gives an advantage on the straights, but we still need to improve driveability. My thanks to Repsol Honda and to HRC for all their work with this engine. It was very exciting for me to race in a GP again – it felt really amazing when I crossed the finish line!” Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: dnf crash. “I am very disappointed because I made a very good start, probably the best of this season, and I was in the top ten on the first lap. But I immediately felt a strange feeling in the rear and the bike started to slide and bump. I tried to keep my position but it was not possible and lost some places. Then, on lap six at turn two, I overtook Vermeulen but he probably hit my brake lever and I was not able to control the bike. I crashed and suffered a small injury in my left little finger. It aches a lot now but it will be OK for Barcelona.” 250cc: Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT SAG: 10th “I got a good start and held my position for the first lap and was cautious in the opening laps. But after a while I found a really good rhythm and my times improved and I gained a few places. I am happy to finish 10th my best result of the season so far but I could have been ninth. With two-three laps to go they were showing the yellow flag and I was watching out for a faller. But for that I think I would have passed Espargaro, I needed another lap. The bike was good today, chassis, suspension everything but on the straights I lacked just a little power and could not pass the faster bikes from the slipstream. “ Yukio Takahashi, JiR Scot Honda: dnf crash. “I’m sad because we knew that on this circuit it was difficult for us but yesterday at the end of practice we were in quite good shape and not afraid of anyone. I did a very good start and took a lot of positions, pushing at maximum to stay with the lead group but always I had to brake hard to stay with the people ahead to recover in the corners what they would take from me on the straight and so it was very difficult to make any overtakes. When I was at half-race distance I started to have less rear grip and this hurt my race. It was impossible to open the throttle delicately when I came out of the corner, but for me it was impossible to go slower as soon the team signalled that the KTMs were catching me up and then just a few laps from the end during braking the front washed away and I fell. At the next race at Barcelona I want to run a good race for the team and get the result for them.” 125cc: Louis Rossi, FFM Honda: 32nd. “I am disappointed because I made a good start and for a few laps I fought well with my fellow countryman Alexis Masbou. I even managed to overtake him during a tricky braking. But then I wasn¹t able to keep up with him and the pack in which I was. I got caught out in the last bends and on the straight. We¹re going to keep working to try and find solutions for the next Grand Prix in Barcelona next weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: DISAPPOINTMENT AT MUGELLO FOR KAWASAKI PAIR Anthony West was the sole Kawasaki finisher in today’s Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, bringing his Ninja ZX-RR home in a points scoring position after a technical problem caused his Kawasaki teammate, John Hopkins, to crash out of the race after just seven laps. Both Kawasaki riders lined up on the grid today knowing they were facing a tough task, after rain affected practice sessions on Friday and Saturday left them with limited dry track time in which to perfect the race set-up of their Ninja ZX-RR machines. Hopkins crashed out of contention just seven laps into the race, after a fault with his quickshifter meant he was unable to backshift on the approach to the ultra-fast turn one, and he was left with no option but to run straight on. West once again showed the determination for which he is rightly known and raced on to the end, to be rewarded with 15th position and another points scoring finish. While today’s result was frustrating for the Kawasaki Racing Team, both Hopkins and West are now more determined than ever to end the recent run of bad luck with a strong performance at next weekend’s Grand Prix of Catalunya. Anthony West #13 – 15th Position “I’m starting to sound like a stuck record now, because every time I get off the bike I’m explaining the same problem. It’s fairly simple; the rear just spins up when you get on the gas out of the turns and the bike goes sideways when it’s supposed to go forwards. This is a real, physical problem, not something that exists only in Anthony West’s head. Now I’m looking to the team for a solution, because I came to MotoGP to race, and so far this season I’ve had little opportunity to do so. Whether the team can find a solution before the next race, which is only one week away, I don’t know.” John Hopkins #21 – DNF “We saw in qualifying that we were some way off the pace in race trim, so we decided to take a chance with some fairly big changes ahead of morning warm-up today. It was a gamble that paid off, because the set-up of the bike was much improved in the race. But then, just seven laps into the race the bike developed a fault with the quickshifter and I couldn’t backshift approaching turn one. With no way to scrub off speed the crash was inevitable. It was a big crash, and I count myself lucky that I managed to walk away uninjured. Obviously I’m frustrated because this is the second time in a row that a technical problem has put me out of the race. This cannot be allowed to happen again.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “This was another disappointing weekend for the Kawasaki Racing Team. The changeable weather during practice on Friday and Saturday meant we were under pressure to maximize dry track time on Saturday afternoon, but then we hit some problems, which meant we didn’t qualify as high as we were expecting. We made some quite major changes to set-up ahead of the race, which certainly worked for John, but then this improvement was undone when a technical problem caused him to crash out of the race. Once again, Anthony battled on to the end, riding around the problems he’s having with rear traction to finish in the points. We are obviously working to solve this issue, but with so many races in such a short space of time, it’s not proving easy. After two retirements in as many races, now we must focus on getting both riders to the finish line in Catalunya.” More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: MotoGP RACE REPORT: GRAND PRIX OF ITALY Rossi continues mastery of home race with seventh consecutive win at Mugello INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, June 1, 2008 The rest of the MotoGP field should have known what history already confirmed entering the Italian Grand Prix: Valentino Rossi is unbeatable at Mugello. Five-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi expanded his points lead and won the Italian Grand Prix for the seventh consecutive year at Mugello, winning his home race by 2.201 seconds over defending World Champion Casey Stoner on June 1. Dani Pedrosa finished third, 4.867 seconds behind Rossi. It was the third consecutive victory of the season for Rossi, whose lead in the standings grew to 122-110 over Pedrosa. “After winning the championship, winning at Mugello is the next best thing for me, and once again today it was like a dream,” Rossi said. “There is no way to describe the feeling I have standing on the podium in front of all of my fans here, and I am so happy that I could win once again today. To win for the seventh time running at my home track is amazing, but I felt quite a lot of pressure about this, so it’s a relief, as well, because I didn’t want to disappoint everyone!” It was a mixed day for American riders in the 23-lap race. Colin Edwards of Houston continued his consistent, strong season with a fifth-place finish on his Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin, his best finish ever at Mugello. “I’m not a guy that likes fifth, but on my biggest bogey track ever, I’ll take it,” Edwards said. 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden, from Owensboro, Ky., was hampered by an unknown mechanical problem with his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin and finished 13th. John Hopkins, from Ramona, Calif., placed 17th after a crash on Lap 7 caused by a gear-shifting problem. Hopkins was unhurt. Rossi started from pole on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone but slipped to fourth early. But Rossi climbed toward the front quickly, passing Stoner’s Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone for the lead for good on Lap 4. Rookie sensation Jorge Lorenzo entered this race tied for second with Pedrosa, but he suffered a blow to his title chances when he crashed his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Michelin on Lap 7. Lorenzo was unhurt, but it was the first time in his young MotoGP career that he failed to finish. Lorenzo fell to third in the standings, 28 points behind surging teammate Rossi. The next race is the Grand Prix of Catalunya on June 8 at Barcelona, Spain. The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. RESULTS BORGO SAN LORENZO, Italy Results of the 23-lap Grand Prix of Italy MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle/tire, time behind winner: 1. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha/Bridgestone 2. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati/Bridgestone +2.201 seconds 3. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda/Michelin +4.867 4. Alex De Angelis San Marino Honda/Bridgestone +6.313 5. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha/Michelin +12.530 6. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha/Michelin +13.806 7. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki/Bridgestone +14.447 8. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda/Michelin +15.319 9. Shinya Nakano Japan Honda/Bridgestone +15.327 10. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki/Bridgestone +30.785 11. Sylvain Guintoli France Ducati/Bridgestone +39.621 12. Toni Elias Spain Ducati/Bridgestone +50.021 13. Nicky Hayden United States Honda/Michelin +50.440 14. Tadayuki Okada Japan Honda/Michelin +58.849 15. Anthony West Australia Kawasaki/Bridgestone +1:00.736 16. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha/Michelin +17 laps 17. John Hopkins United States Kawasaki/Bridgestone +17 laps 18. Randy De Puniet France Honda/Michelin +18 laps 19. Marco Melandri Italy Ducati/Bridgestone +18 laps Fastest lap: Stoner, 1:50.003, Lap 5 Pole lap: Rossi, 1:48.130 POINTS Riders: Rossi 122, Pedrosa 110, Lorenzo 94, Stoner 76, Edwards 58, Capirossi 51, Dovizioso 44, Toseland 43, Hayden 40, Nakano 35, Vermeulen 31, Hopkins 26, De Angelis 24, Melandri 24, Elias 24, De Puniet 18, Guintoli 12, West 6, Okada 2. Manufacturers: Yamaha 140, Honda 110, Ducati 81, Suzuki 54, Kawasaki 29. PODIUM QUOTES VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, winner): “After winning the championship, winning at Mugello is the next best thing for me, and once again today it was like a dream. There is no way to describe the feeling I have standing on the podium in front of all of my fans here, and I am so happy that I could win once again today. To win for the seventh time running at my home track is amazing, but I felt quite a lot of pressure about this, so it’s a relief, as well, because I didn’t want to disappoint everyone! It’s been a hard weekend for everyone because of the bad weather and the lack of dry track time, but my crew have done a fantastic job with the bike, and my M1 was wonderful today. Once I got to the front, I was able to make a gap from the others, but toward the end it was unbelievably hot, and it became quite hard to ride. I wanted to ease off a bit, but Casey was pushing hard behind so I had to keep going. Thanks to all of my team, to the engineers and of course to Bridgestone! I’m really glad that I’ve been the one to give them their first win at this track, and they did a great job today because my tire worked virtually the same from start to finish. It’s been a fantastic day, it’s always one of the best moments of the year for me, and now we’ve made a bit more of the gap at the top of the championship, so things couldn’t be better. Honestly, after this weekend I think I would like to go to bed for five days, but now we have to go straight to Barcelona!” CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone, second): “I was disappointed not to be on the podium in my first race here for Ducati last season, so this makes up for it, and it’s a chance for me to say ‘thank you’ to Ducati and all the Ducatisti for their support. We’ve had some problems over the first few races of this season, but at Le Mans and here we’ve found a more comfortable setup and a bike that is really competitive. Today was an awesome race. I led from the start, but I didn’t want to push too hard because the front tire took a few laps to bed in. Valentino came past in a section of the circuit where I was losing a little bit too much time. I was trying to make it up around the rest of the track but pushed it too much into Turn 1, ran wide and lost touch with Valentino. We knew the setting of the bike would be more suited to the final few laps and we expected to be strong, but unfortunately I’d fallen a little bit too far behind. Even so, second place is a great result, and it gives us a real boost going to Catalunya.” DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, third): “That was a really tough race because Valentino’s pace was very, very fast. I got a good start, and the rhythm was really high. At first I was able to go with them, then I had a battle with Casey. I tried to catch him at the end, but it was impossible. It was great to be on the podium; it’s a good result for the championship. But while consistency is always important, we need to win more races. The engine was good today. Our main concern now is tire consistency during the second part of races. I was losing the front toward the end of today’s race, so tires are what we must focus on. It was very important that Okada finished today, gathering a lot of data, which we will examine and discuss tonight. Valentino had his seventh win here today. I hope it will be my turn at Catalunya.” AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin, fifth): “I didn’t get a great start, but it wasn’t that bad, but before I knew it I’d lost a couple of places. I didn’t have the grip in the first two laps that some of the other guys did, so I couldn’t stay with them off the corner. Once my tires started to come in, I really started to feel good, but I had to adjust my riding style with the temperature being so much higher than yesterday. The rear was coming round a bit on the entry of the corner and I started braking a lot harder, carrying less corner speed to try and conserve the tire by picking the bike up and accelerating. It worked, and I’ve got to say I’m happy with fifth. I’m happier with fifth here than I was with third in Le Mans, to be honest. I expected to win at Le Mans, but my best result here has been a ninth. I’m not a guy that likes fifth, but on my biggest bogey track ever, I’ll take it. We just had to run a tire that we thought would have good endurance because in a situation where there’s hardly been any dry track time, you have to play safe. Nobody had done any endurance testing on tires, and I think the tire I raced on I’d done about two laps on before the race! I have to say a big thanks to Michelin because they did a great job. We had no idea what the tire would be like after 20 laps, but to come from where I did showed we made a good choice. Tire choice is critical at any track, but here even more so because it is such an abrasive surface. It will destroy tires if you are just a little bit off, so credit to Michelin. I had a good battle with James, and it’s great to see him back in the top six. There were a couple of places like the two Arrabbiata corners where he could pull away. I felt like I could control him if I could pass him, and the key was getting by and being able to pull a gap so he couldn’t slipstream back by me. It is another great result for the team today.” NICKY HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, 13th): “This morning we made a nice step; we made a suspension adjustment, and the bike felt a lot better, so we had a pretty good pace. We were certainly unlucky in the race. I got an awesome start, felt pretty good, but it was clear from the beginning that we had a problem. Guys started coming past, and there was nothing I could do. There was no way to defend. So I just tried to get to the finish and get a couple of points. They’re checking the data now to see exactly what happened. Like I said, we were quite unlucky. I knew we didn’t have Rossi’s pace this morning, but we had enough pace to be in there, to be quite competitive. I don’t know yet which engine I’ll be using next weekend. To be honest, I’ve been concentrating on this race, so I haven’t thought about it yet.” JOHN HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone, 17th): “We saw in qualifying that we were some way off the pace in race trim, so we decided to take a chance with some fairly big changes ahead of morning warm-up today. It was a gamble that paid off because the setup of the bike was much improved in the race. But then, just seven laps into the race, the bike developed a fault with the quickshifter, and I couldn’t backshift approaching Turn 1. With no way to scrub off speed, the crash was inevitable. It was a big crash, and I count myself lucky that I managed to walk away uninjured. Obviously, I’m frustrated because this is the second time in a row that a technical problem has put me out of the race. This cannot be allowed to happen again.” MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS 250cc: Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Metis Gilera 125cc: Simone Corsi, Italy, Jack & Jones WRB. American Stevie Bonsey placed 11th and is tied for 11th in series points. NEXT RACE Grand Prix of Catalunya, Barcelona, June 8. Round 7 of 18. Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008. Tickets can be purchased either online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time; on the phone by calling (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; or visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office on the first floor of the IMS Administration Building at 4790 W. 16th St. in Indianapolis from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. All tickets for this event are three-day tickets, with both reserved and general admission seating available.