2007 FIM MotoGP World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 19, 2007 Race Results: 1. Casey STONER (Ducati), Bridgestone, 22 laps, 43:45.810 2. John HOPKINS (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -7.903 seconds 3. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda), Michelin, -13.100 seconds 4. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), Michelin, -15.800 seconds 5. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), Bridgestone, -17.303 seconds 6. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati), Bridgestone, -19.363 seconds 7. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), Michelin, -22.485 seconds 8. Randy DE PUNIET (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -23.073 seconds 9. Alex BARROS (Ducati), Bridgestone, -32.292 seconds 10. Carlos CHECA (Honda), Michelin, -35.153 seconds 11. Toni ELIAS (Honda), Bridgestone, -37.748 seconds 12. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki), Bridgestone, -38.250 seconds 13. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yamaha), Dunlop, -43.694 seconds 14. Shinya NAKANO (Honda), Michelin, -57.069 seconds 15. Kurtis ROBERTS (KR-Honda), Michelin, -69.603 seconds 16. Ivan SILVA (Ducati), Bridgestone, -81.410 seconds 17. Makoto TAMADA (Yamaha), Dunlop, -85.804 seconds 18. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), Michelin, -20 laps, DNF, crash MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (after 12 of 18 races): 1. Stoner, 246 points 2. Rossi, 186 3. Pedrosa, 168 4. TIE, Vermeulen/Hopkins, 124 6. Marco Melandri, 113 7. Edwards, 93 8. Nicky Hayden, 89 9. Capirossi, 87 10. Barros, 83 11. Alex Hofmann, 60 12. De Puniet, 58 13. Elias, 54 14. Checa, 35 15. West, 33 16. TIE, Nakano/Tamada, 31 18. Guintoli, 24 19. Kurtis Roberts, 9 20. TIE, Roger Hayden/Michel Fabrizio, 6 22. Fonsi Nieto, 5 23. TIE, Olivier Jacque/Kenny Lee Roberts, 4 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceske republiky – Sunday 19th August Race Report motogp A seventh victory of the 2007 season means that Casey Stoner leaves Brno with an advantage of over two races from his title rivals. Sixty points separate the Australian from second placed rider Valentino Rossi in the MotoGP World Championship after another runaway win from the Ducati young gun, with Dani Pedrosa a further 18 points behind. Stoner led from start to finish in the Czech Republic, his second consecutive victory from pole position. Eventually winning the race by nearly eight seconds, Stoner still had to keep his wits about him in the early going as Suzuki’s John Hopkins matched him for pace. The Anglo-American lost touch with the current series leader at the midway point, but still maintained his focus for a second place finish, his best ever in MotoGP and his second podium of the 2007 season. Both Hopkins and reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden were looking to make a comeback after disappointment at their home circuit at the previous round, and the stateside duo made amends with podium appearances. Hayden confirmed that he is back in business in the premier class after two previous podiums before his Laguna Seca misfortune, putting the Honda RC212V on the rostrum for a third time in his title defending year. ‘The Kentucky Kid’ had to pass his Honda factory team-mate Dani Pedrosa to earn his third spot, but pulled away to finish as the best classified rider from the Japanese factory. Chris Vermeulen once again worked his way up from a less-than-ideal position on the grid for fifth place, having put in some aggressive overtaking manoeuvres on some of the more experienced MotoGP riders such as Loris Capirossi who was sixth. Valentino Rossi’s first Brno finish off the podium in MotoGP did little to help his title chances, and he now has to chase a gap even larger than that which he closed last year if he is to regain his crown. The Italian returned to the garage with his tyres ripped to shreds after giving his all on the Yamaha M1, but could do nothing to keep touch with the riders in front. Randy de Puniet, Alex Barros and Carlos Checa were the other three riders to finish in the top ten. The MotoGP World Championship continues in two weeks time at Misano. 250cc Showing why he has been snapped up by Yamaha to ride in MotoGP next season, reigning 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo put on a riding masterclass to extend his lead in this year’s series to 30 points. The Spaniard took victory at Brno from pole position and was rarely in any real danger as he pulled away from race and title rival Andrea Dovizioso. The Fortuna Aprilia rider forsaking his normal golden helmet and gloves combo this afternoon- has been a winner seven times in 2007, always from pole position. Dovizioso had tried to stick with his nemesis over the early stages, but a slight mistake when pushing too hard enabled Lorenzo to extend the gap to over 7.5 seconds and give the Italian a lonely but comfortable ride to the line. Mika Kallio followed up his Sachsenring podium with third place in the Czech Republic, coming off a flying start onboard the KTM. Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista and Hiroshi Aoyama all finished close together to round off the top six, with the latter only really catching up with those ahead of him with a pair of laps left in the race. Thomas Luthi headed the battling Honda factory pairing of Julian Simon and Shuhei Aoyama, with Roberto Locatelli completing the top ten. Alex de Angelis failed to finish in the top four for the first time this season after colliding with Kallio on lap 17, but picked up his bike to run it home in eleventh. Now 40 points behind Lorenzo in the classification, the atmosphere is heating up yet further for De Angelis’ home race in two week’s time. 250cc rider Taro Sekiguchi is spending the night in hospital after a nasty crash in the quarter litre warm up session. Thrown high into the air when he made impact with Marco Simoncelli’s prone bike, which he was unable to see due to the dust raised just moments before, the Japanese rider came down to earth with a huge impact that fractured his pelvis and two ribs but thankfully leaves him in a non-critical condition. 125cc A third 125cc Grand Prix victory of the season wowed the crowd in the first race back from the summer break, and put Hector Faubel back on top of the classification ahead of team-mate Gabor Talmacsi. A slow burning race built to an epic finale, with the turning point being a crash from Sergio Gadea that closed up the leading pack. The young Spaniard had taken the group with him for so much of the duel, but an innocuous lowside seemingly under little pressure knocked him out of the running. The last 3 laps were simply stunning, as eventual second placed finisher Mattia Pasini held and lost the lead, ducked sharply inside from outside the podium spots and gave home rider Lukas Pesek the chance to take a popular rostrum finish. Things had looked desperate for the Czech rider when he ran wide and lost places, and the desperate Derbi man looked for every angle to step onto the podium. Hanging in waiting for a mistake, he was rewarded for his efforts and delighted his hordes of fans. A wobble from Pasini allowed the top four to close up, but Talmacsi had already been thrown off his pace by Gadea’s crash. The Hungarian, immensely popular in Brno, took fourth spot and trails team-mate Faubel by ten points. Tomoyoshi Koyama and Pol Espargaro completed the top six , the former around seven seconds away from the frontrunners, and Simone Corsi, Michael Ranseder, Randy Krummenacher and Sandro Cortese rounded off the first ten past the line. More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing Honda: ELIAS PERFORMS HEROICS AT BRNO Melandri misses out due to an exposed hernia in his neck Toni Elias won his own personal battle at Brno as he returned to track just two months after his crash at Assen, recovering in record time from a broken femur. The Spaniard started the race from the fifth row of the grid and battled all the way to the end despite intense pain in his leg, fighting it out with West, Guintoli, Checa and Barros to take an incredible eleventh place finish. Marco Melandri was forced to watch the race from the pit garage after suffering an exposed discal hernia between the C5 and C6 vertebrae during free practice. TONI ELIAS (11th in the race, 13th in the championship on 54 points): “I’m really proud and satisfied to have finished the race. Considering my physical condition, eleventh place is not bad. Brno features a lot of direction changes and it’s very demanding on the body so I struggled a lot with the pain in my leg. Now we have two more weeks of hard work ahead to try and recover as well as possible and be ready for Misano, my team’s home race. In fact, the headquarters are just a few kilometres away in San Clemente.” MARCO MELANDRI (6th in the championship on 113 points): “It was frustrating having to watch the race from the pit wall, especially having worked really hard over the summer to recover from the broken ankle. My neck has been in some pain ever since Laguna Seca but I never thought it would stop me from racing here at Brno. Unfortunately on Friday morning I had a hernia between the C5 and C6 vertebrae which put pressure on the nerve and I lost all strength in my left arm and hand. Now my only thought is to get fit as soon as possible and make sure I am ready to race again at Misano”. More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: DISMAL DAY FOR YAMAHA AS ROSSI FINISHES SEVENTH AND EDWARDS SLIDES OUT The wooded hills of Brno, thronged by 141,632 spectators, proved a less than happy hunting ground for the Fiat Yamaha Team at today’s Czech Grand Prix. Valentino Rossi was dogged by traction problems almost from the start and was only able to hang on for seventh, whilst Colin Edwards slid out of the race on the second lap. Starting from sixth, Rossi slipped one place at the start but regained his starting position by the end of lap one, behind Loris Capirossi. The Italian then spent several laps on his fellow countryman’s tail before he was able to pass him on lap eight of 22, but by then Rossi was suffering from grip problems and was unable to push on and clear a gap from the chasing pack. A few laps later he was passed by Chris Vermeulen and then by Capirossi, before Randy de Puniet began to threaten him in the closing stages and he was forced to use all his skills to keep the Frenchman behind him to the line. Edwards meanwhile failed to finish a race for only the third time in his Yamaha career, making a rare mistake on lap two and losing the front. He rejoined the race briefly but was unable to continue, coming into the pits on the next lap. The race was won by Casey Stoner, who extends his championship lead over Rossi to 60 points. Edwards remains seventh with 93 points. The MotoGP paddock now has one weekend off before the San Marino Grand Prix, when Grand Prix motorcycle racing returns to Misano for the first time in 14 years. Valentino Rossi Position: 7th Time: +22.485 “We expected a difficult race today because we knew our potential here wasn’t very high after the last two days. However it was even worse than we expected! I tried to keep my rhythm going but, after only seven or eight laps, the tyre started to slide a lot on the right side and from then on I wasn’t able to open the throttle. “Throughout the weekend we have done everything to try to find more traction. We have changed the setting a lot to try to find a way to make the tyre work, but unfortunately during the race we had no grip. Also, with the setting we had to use, we had to sacrifice some of our corner speed and this also slowed us down. It was very difficult today. I was able to do 1.59s to start with but after a few laps the tyre made a big step down and then I just had to wait for the end of the race. “I had a hard time with Capirossi at the start; in some parts I was faster than him but I couldn’t overtake him because he was pulling away from me on the straights. Eventually I got past him but he stayed with me and I couldn’t pull clear. I pushed as hard as I could; at that time I wasn’t too fast but not too slow either, but after that my tyre was finished and then Vermeulen came, then Loris again…I am sad because I wasn’t even able to try to fight with them today. Towards the end I had to push at the limit to stay in front of de Puniet and luckily I managed, but we were a very long way from a good performance. I tried to change my style, to ride in a different way to help the situation, but it was no good. “We have a test now but in reality our situation is quite bad and we have a few different problems to deal with. We will try to make the best of the next two days of work and to try to find something different for the next few races. We have to wait and see what we find, but for sure it’s going to be very difficult. This is a very hard moment that we’re in. We have six races to go and we just have to work as hard as we can to try to find a way to make some good results.” Colin Edwards Position: DNF Time: Lap 3 “Even though my start wasn’t so bad on paper – I made up one place – it didn’t feel too good. We were trying a new starting system that’s been working really well but, in the hustle and bustle on the grid, I released the clutch a bit early, dropped RPM and then had to re-group. Anyway, I was pushing pretty hard from then on and I had a couple of passing areas that I knew I was good at so I was working my way up to de Puniet to see what I could do. I came out of turn three, went into four and was watching him and before I knew it, I lost the front and was on the ground. It’s been a long time since I’ve lost the front that fast, usually it just kind of gives way but I guess it wasn’t completely up to temperature, it was only the second lap and it just went. I made a mistake and I’m really disappointed, now we’ve got some serious work to do during the test so we have a better weekend in Misano.” Davide Brivio Fiat Yamaha Team Director “It is very hard to find the right words to say about today! We had a very difficult race with Valentino and we tried our best with what we had. Unfortunately Colin crashed when he was feeling good after this morning, so that’s a great pity as well. We have to keep working now to improve our package and the situation we find ourselves in. We have two days of testing here and we will try some new engine parts as well as some new tyres. Of course we won’t give up and we will be working very hard over the next two days with both riders. We’ll be back to try again in Misano.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Hopkins Czechs out of Brno in Style John Hopkins raced to his best MotoGP result today as he brought his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home in a superb second position at the Czech Republic Grand Prix. Starting from fourth on the grid Hopkins got a great start and was up into second position within the first few turns, a position that he never gave up for the whole race as he and eventual race-winner Casey Stoner pulled away from the rest of the field . Hopkins did challenge Stoner for first place, but was riding at the absolute limit and decided to bring the bike home safely in second rather than risk all on a battle with the Ducati rider. Chris Vermeulen finished with a fantastic fifth place to give Rizla Suzuki MotoGP its best pair of results this season. Vermeulen got a bit boxed in at the start and was ninth at the end of lap one. He quickly made up ground as Colin Edwards fell in front of him and then he set about battling it out with three other riders. The aggressive Australian passed Randy de Puniet on lap nine and Loris Capirossi two laps later. He then sized up Valentino Rossi, before overtaking the seven-time World Champion on lap 13. Vermeulen tried to chase down the riders in front of him, but the gap was too great and he had to settle for fifth. Vermeulen and Hopkins are now tied on 124 points in the riders’ World Championship table, with the former just leading the way due to his victory in France. With both riders on the same amount of points they have jointly become Suzuki’s highest point scorers on a four-stroke MotoGP machine, both surpassing Hopkins’s total of 116 last year. Today’s race was watched by a record breaking Czech crowd of over 141,000, that witnessed Stoner win on the Bridgestone-shod Ducati and stretch his lead in the championship to 60 points. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in Brno for a two day test and are next in race-action in two weeks time when the MotoGP circus moves to Misano in Italy on Sunday 2nd September. John Hopkins: “I can say that I am really, really happy with today’s result and the whole weekend in general. I got off the line well and then passed Dani and Nicky in quick succession to get up to second. My goal had been to be in second by turn three because I knew Casey would be in first and I didn’t want him to get away. I tried to stay with him, but he had an unbelievable pace and I was pushing the front and the rear to the limit which with the Bridgestones is pretty high! I tried hard to catch him but after a while I decided to pull it in a bit and make sure I got that second place. The bike and the tyres worked great today and a big thanks to my team for a fantastic job and to Bridgestone for such awesome tyres. Congratulations to Chris on a great ride today, we’re tied on points now, so that added competition is good for the whole team for the rest of the season. I am sure everyone at Rizla Suzuki is happy with this result and I’m more happy for them as they all deserve it and it’s good for me to give these podiums back to Suzuki after all they have done for me. “I’d like to finally wish Taro Sekiguchi all the best after his horrendous crash in the 250 race earlier today. I and all the team hope he is ok and makes a quick recovery and return to racing.” Chris Vermeulen: “I had a good enough start, but got a bit closed in on the first turn and went back a place. Everyone was going so quick that it was hard to get anywhere early on. Colin got in front of me and then he crashed and very nearly took me with him, so I lost a bit of time from that. I then got up to de Puniet and got past him. Loris was very difficult to get by, because that Ducati is so fast on the straights, but I did. I then just kept my head down and also managed to get up to and pass Valentino a couple of laps later. It’s good points for the championship and I’m still in fourth and we’ll look for another podium next time out. Well done to John on his second place today, he has deserved that for all the hard work he has put in recently and after what happened to him in America!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It’s been a fantastic day’s work by everyone. I think the team and the riders got everything out of themselves, the bikes and the tyres. It’s great to keep making forward progress and we will try to continue to do that for the rest of the season. “For John it was a similar story as for Chris in Laguna Seca. He was the absolute class of the field but for one rider, who is on such good form he is absolutely destroying everyone else this season. Chris also had another strong race and showed what a great racer he is. We are getting closer all the time to the very front and are looking forward to seeing one of our guys on the top step again before the end of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner and Hopkins take Bridgestone 1-2 in Brno Round 12 Czech Republic – Race Automotodrom Brno, Brno, Czech Republic – Sunday 19 August 2007 Ducati’s Casey Stoner extended his lead of the MotoGP world championship to a mammoth 60 points with another classy victory in Brno today. It was the Australian’s seventh win of the season and the eighth on Bridgestone tyres in the twelve races of the season so far with just six events remaining. Suzuki’s John Hopkins was able to match Stoner’s race-winning pace for much of the 22-lap GP and ultimately crossed the line in the runner up position to claim his best MotoGP result to date after the third position he took earlier in the season in Shanghai. Brno is a circuit which has historically produced close race finishes and Stoner’s win margin of 7.903s this afternoon is the greatest since fellow Australian Mick Doohan won by 14.858s ten years ago in 1997. It is only the second time that there have been consecutive wins at a circuit on Bridgestone tyres alongside victories at Motegi in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Bridgestone’s performance around Brno, where its tyres helped Loris Capirossi to victory twelve months ago, was further underlined by competitive rides from Chris Vermeulen who took fifth for Suzuki, his fourth top five result of the season, Capirossi himself who finished sixth for Ducati, Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet who bolsters his championship position with a fine eighth place and Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros who was the sixth Bridgestone-shod rider in the top ten, taking ninth place. Hiroshi Yamada- Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Sport Unit “Congratulations to the Ducati team and to Casey for another magnificent win on our tyres today. Casey has again been the benchmark all weekend and this is his second consecutive pole to flag victory which is a proud achievement for us. I would also like to extend my congratulations to Suzuki for two bikes in the top five and especially to John for a hard fought and well deserved second place, his best ever MotoGP result. It is always a joy to see our tyres help riders to victory but it is extra special when we have more than one rider on the podium. Today’s 1-2 result is also a reward for all the hard work that our team has put in so I would also like to thank them for a job well done this weekend.” Junichi Kawajiri Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “Today’s race saw a real variety in the tyre selections from our teams and riders. A complete range of soft, medium and hard compound rear tyres were fielded and all three compound types were represented by riders in the top six, which is very satisfying for us from a technical perspective. This afternoon was the first chance we have had to see the potential over the full race distance, and while we are always looking for improvements, I am pleased with the performance and, of course, the end results. We were also able to demonstrate a good performance in qualifying with Casey taking the fourth consecutive pole position on Bridgestone tyres. We now have an extensive test here in Brno where we have a range of new tyres to test in preparation for the remaining six events of the year, so the work never stops.” Casey Stoner Ducati Corse Race Winner and Championship Leader “At the start, I was right on the limit with John behind me chasing me down. I was very surprised and a bit worried that he could catch me. We just kept our pace until around eight or ten laps to go when I was able to pull out a bit of an advantage. I had to keep my concentration up throughout the race and it wasn’t until the last few laps that I started to ease up just to make sure the bike and tyres would last; everything was perfect. We had confidence in the Ducati-Bridgestone package this weekend, the bike, team and tyres have performed faultlessly and it is great for everyone involved to get another win today.” Bridgestone Race Results Front (16.5”) Rear (16.5” unless indicated) P1 Casey Stoner Ducati 43m45.810s WINNER Slick Medium Slick Hard P2 John Hopkins Suzuki 43m53.713s +7.903s Slick Soft Slick Medium P5 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 44m03.113s +17.303s Slick Soft Slick Medium P6 Loris Capirossi Ducati 44m05.173s +19.363s Slick Soft Slick Soft P8 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 44m08.883s +23.073s Slick Soft Slick Medium P9 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 44m18.102s +32.292s Slick Medium Slick Hard P11 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 44m23.558s +37.748s Slick Medium Slick Soft (16”) P12 Anthony West Kawasaki 44m24.060s +38.250s Slick Soft Slick Medium P16 Ivan Silva Pramac d’Antin 45m07.220s +1m21.410s Slick Medium Slick Hard Weather: Dry. Air 26°C, Track 35°C, Humidity 40% (Taken from official MotoGP timesheet) More, from a press release issued by Konica Minolta Honda: Front-end chatter holds back KONICA MINOLTA Honda Team at Brno Shinya Nakano suffered more of the front-end chatter that’s been afflicting his Honda RC212V all season during today’s 22-lap race at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. Despite a good start the 29-year-old Japanese rider found that the vibrations caused by the ‘chatter’ from the front-end of his 800cc Honda effectively limited his cornering speed at the 3.2-mile circuit, which relies upon speed through the corners for a good result. Despite the problems, Nakano managed to take more points for 14th place and the Team are still upbeat about the potential for the updated RCV212V. Tomorrow they stay on at the Brno circuit for vital development work on the bike, before the final six races of the season. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “With an updated machine for the race our expectations for today were a little different, but tomorrow the Team will test the technical situation and try and eradicate this chattering problem. We need to understand if it’s a tyre issue or our machine settings. We will test and hopefully find some positive answer, as Shinya was unable to push hard today and this is the limiting factor. This has been our problem all season, but tomorrow we will work on this new bike and try our best to make some big improvements. It was positive for us that both the factory machines with Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa were competitive which is good for all Honda machines in the future. Monday may not give us any points for the championship but it does give us vital information for the final third of the season.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda (14th position) “All weekend we’ve had front-end chattering issues. We tried to fix this problem in warm-up this morning by trying a harder front tyre and we had a little less chattering but after few laps the problem returned and this meant that in the race we couldn’t push hard. It’s clear to us that the engine is smoother and has more potential, but with this turning problem we cannot use this potential. Tomorrow is a very important test for us to solve the problem of chatter and therefore find better turning ability and corner speed for the last part of the season when we really need to be getting improved results.” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Despite a good start it was not possible for Shinya to fight with the riders ahead of him. This was because it was not possible to solve the chatter problem from the front-end of the machine and that meant that Shinya couldn’t be fast in the corners: especially those turns between T2 T3. Brno is very much a corner speed track and this hurt his lap-times so he fell back from the group ahead. We tested two different construction front tyres this morning, but the chattering problem was almost the same so it was not possible to do anything different. We know the potential of the updated RC212V is better than the standard machine, so we are lucky that we are here to test tomorrow at Brno so we will see if the chatter is a characteristic of the circuit or of the machine and therefore one we need to work on. We will also be testing some different Michelin tyres to see if they will help. Tomorrow’s test is very important, as from this test we will plan the last third of the season where good results are so very important to us.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: AWESOME STONER DOMINATES BRNO FOR SEVENTH WIN OF THE SEASON, CAPIROSSI FINISHES SIXTH BODY { font-family : Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; } Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner put in a faultless display in front of 141,000 fans at Brno today, winning the Czech Grand Prix to extend his World Championship advantage to 60 points. Team-mate Loris Capirossi came in sixth after an entertaining tussle with several other riders. It was another perfect weekend for the awesome Australian who dominated both days of practice, secured pole position and then led from start to finish, leaving his rivals floundering in his wake and stretching his lead in the second half of the 22 laps to beat runner-up John Hopkins by almost eight seconds. It was Stoner’s seventh victory of the year and his second consecutive success following a similarly dominant performance at last month’s US GP. Capirossi spent much of the race battling back and forth with Chris Vermeulen and Valentino Rossi, eventually crossing line between the Australian and the Italian. CASEY STONER, winner, World Championship leader on 246 points “The whole weekend has gone pretty well for us, we struggled a little bit on Friday trying to get the set-up but by the time qualifying came around everything was working really well. The bike, the team and the tyres have been performing faultlessly at the past few races and it’s just nice to top things up with another win. It was a great race, we completed race distance on the tyres this morning so we knew they’d last fine. We got an awesome start, I started off with six tenths on John, then the gap went up to a second, up to 1.2 seconds, then back down to one second, then up a little bit, down a little bit. I felt like I was close enough to the limit and he was still there and chasing me down, I was surprised and a little worried he could catch me but we just kept our pace until eight laps to go, then we started to pull a small advantage. I just had to keep up my concentration level to try and pull that advantage. I’m still going out there trying to win races, that’s what we’re here for, we’re all out there fighting for every point. We knew we had a better package than everybody else today, so I just had to push through. That’s the way I look at it – if you concentrate on it race by race it makes things a little easier. We’ve got a few things and a lot of tyres to test here tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the tests because although we’ve got a really good package it’ll be great if we can improve it. Also these tests will help the machine for next year when hopefully we can come out a bit stronger.” LORIS CAPIROSSI, sixth place, ninth in World Championship on 87 points “It’s a shame because today was a wasted opportunity. I made a mistake when I chose my tyre allocation on Thursday. I decided to trust one type of construction that worked very well last year, especially getting into the corners. But unfortunately it wasn’t competitive from the early stages of today’s race. I used a harder compound and it didn’t work so well. I was slow going into the corners and I took a couple of big risks in the last long corner. Valentino overtook me on one of those occasions, the front tucked and I went wide. After that I was able to pass him again but I couldn’t catch the front group. It’s a real shame because I think I could have stayed with Nicky [Hayden, third-place finisher]. We will do better in the next race at Misano, it’s another home GP and I look forward to racing there”. LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager “That was another unbelievable job done by Casey, the team and Bridgestone. Casey has the right approach to racing, he comes to each race trying to do his best and if everything is okay then he is able to win easily. He is in superb form at the moment – he makes it easy for us! He is also managing the pressure of leading the championship really well. My thanks to him for another fantastic weekend, also to Loris and to our technical partners Bridgestone and Shell Advance.” More, from a press release issued by Team Roberts: KURTIS GETS BACK TO SCORING AT BRNO Brno, Czech Republic – August 19, 2007: Kurtis Roberts finished 15th in today’s Czech Republic GP, adding to his championship points tally after overcoming a poor start as the lights turned green. Hopes of early improvement on his 17th-place grid position evaporated when the engine bogged down on the line, and the England-built Honda-powered hybrid KR212V was last at the end of the first of 22 laps of the 5.403km Brno circuit. Once the engine settled, the younger son of team principal and triple World Champion Kenny Roberts was able to get down to work, picking up two places on the second lap, then another on lap six, putting himself in the points again. All race long, however, Kurtis was fighting front-and rear-wheel slides, as well as a shortage of acceleration and top speed. At the finish, he was a lonely 15th. The race was won by World Championship leader Casey Stoner (Ducati), his seventh victory of the year, in warm, sunny conditions in front of a crowd of 141, 632. Title rival Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) could manage no better than seventh. KURTIS ROBERTS – 15th Position For some reason the thing bogged down off the line. I’d got a good jump, and it just died. That made life difficult, because instead of being able to pass (Makoto) Tamada and (Ivan) Silva in one lap and be done with them, it took a long time. Their bikes are so much faster right now than ours: I’d set ’em up and set ’em up, then block pass them, and they’d get me back on the drive out of the corner or up the hill. It just frustrates you. It took four or five laps when I should have been with Nakano up ahead. I struggled with tyres after that. I was catching Nakano, and I could tell he was having the same issues I was. Then it started chattering and sliding much worse. We just did all we could do to get 15th. We can only go round the corners so fast. We are still missing out on acceleration and top speed. Hopefully, some engine upgrades will come along soon. CHUCK AKSLAND – Team Manager We’re all hoping to get some new engine bits eventually, but it sounds like the tyre / chassis combination was the biggest set-back today. Kurtis said he didn’t really have too much grip, losing the front and pushing the thing around quite a bit, and spinning a lot. Hopefully the weather will co-operate and we’ll get to test some tyres tomorrow or Tuesday. We need to find out which constructions and compounds work best with our bike. Things have moved on since we have last been able to test some tyres and hopefully we can find a combination that works better then what we have now. We’d also like the opportunity to do some more back to back with the two chassis we have. There are differences between them, and the newer one should be better but we have not yet had a good chance to confirm that this is the case. The motor is what it is, but we should be able to improve our lap times by working on chassis and tyres. More, from a press release issued by Repsol: ANOTHER PODIUM FOR NICKY HAYDEN IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Third position for the Repsol Honda Team rider and fourth for his team mate Dani Pedrosa Nicky Hayden was back on the podium today in the Czech Republic GP, the 12th date this season in the World Championship. The American Repsol Honda Team rider, and reigning World Champion, rounded off a good weekend where he has shown a good level of competitiveness. Hayden prepared the race methodically during the training sessions and the result, a second position on the grid meant that he could fight for the podium. After the start Hayden was overtaken by Hopkins and his team mate Dani Pedrosa, and completed the first lap in 4th place. The leader Stoner set a fast pace and he got away from the rest with Hopkins. Hayden overtook Pedrosa on the second lap and went after Hopkins but he spent the rest of the race alone in third place right to the chequered flag. Dani Pedrosa, who was overtaken by Capirossi just after the first few laps quickly got back into 4th position and stayed there alone to the end of the race. In the 250cc category the Repsol riders were incapable of doing much from the start of the race. Both started badly and immediately lost contact with the leaders. After the first lap Julián Simón was 10th and Shuhei Aoyama 13th, they overtook some riders and moved up to 10th and 11th respectively, before the race reached the halfway stage. From that moment on Simón and Oyama were together and climbed two positions thanks to falls involving Debón and De Angelis, Simón was 8th and Aoyama 9th. In 125cc the race got better as it went on for the two Repsol riders. Bradley Smith started badly and reached the end of the first straight in a bad position and had to take the outside line. At the end of the first lap Esteve Rabat was 17th and Bradley Smith 19th. After seven laps the two Repsol Honda Team 125cc riders were in the same group as Olivé and Masbou, and they all stayed together until the end of the race. The numerous falls benefitted this group and finally fought for 11th position. Rabat was the fastest and was 11th, whilst his team mate Bradley Smith was 13th. MotoGP Nicky Hayden — 3rd at 13.100 “Well I am pretty happy with the podium and I feel like we have done a decent job this weekend. Yesterday afternoon we made quite a big change with the front forks and I liked the results a lot. When I got into third position on lap two of the race I was thinking “Now you have just got to get on his back wheel” and for about three corners it was looking pretty good. But then I got onto the straight, looked up and realised that really I was just dreaming. So I just kept my rhythm and I really feel like I got the best out of the bike, myself and the tyres today. I do not feel like I left much on the table. So thanks to my team because those guys did a good job. Hopefully we can keep this form going and get a little bit stronger from now on. I would also like to dedicate this podium to Cedric Laprael, the parts guy in the Repsol Honda Team, who is not here this weekend because he had a parachuting accident during the summer break. Get well Cedric. The team is going to stay for a couple of days testing with some new parts from Honda and a lot of Michelin tyres so we can try to bridge the gap that the leaders have.” Dani Pedrosa — 4th at 15.800 secs. “Fourth position is the best we could get today and at least I have closed the gap a little on the second placed rider in the championship which is positive. Still, I am frustrated after the race today because I did not feel like we could use all the potential of our package. For the first few laps I could not get enough heat into the rear tyre which meant I was not able to maintain my position and I was overtaken by a few riders. Then after four or five laps I could feel more heat in the tyre but by this time the leaders had got away from me, and Nicky too. I pushed as hard as I could for the whole race but the lap times just were not there and my pace was slowing steadily. I am frustrated because we have not made the improvements in the package that I was hoping for. We must work hard during the tests over the next two days. Obviously, fighting for the title is very difficult, but I’m not going to give up on this season. We have to try to keep the third place in the championship and at the same time try to move up to second.” 250cc Julián Simón — 8th at 36.339 secs. “This was not a very positive race. The truth is that I did not get off to a good start. I overtook two and I tried to follow the second group which because of my pace was where I thought I could stay. But it was not not to be and right away I noticed the rear tyre playing up, above all on the right-handers. It was impossible for me to keep up with them because I could not maintain their pace. A pity. I am a bit disappointed with myself and I have to apologise to the team for my performance because it was not at all good. We hope that in the next race we can get back to the level we were at the beginning of the season and finish among the leaders.” Shuhei Aoyama — 9th at 33.367 secs “The start was not bad, but at the start I could not keep up with the leading group. My lap times from the start were steady right to the end but it was not fast enough. On the final curve I was 8th and I think I could have finished in that position, but I missed a gear and I lost it. So I could have done better and finished in that position, although in the end the overall performance this weekend has not been bad for me, since from Qatar to the Sachsenring things did not go too well. But this time it was better than in other races; I hope it carries on like this in Misano.” 125cc Bradley Smith — 13th at 33.863 secs. “My start was not one of my best although it was not too bad either. But on the first curve I went to the outside and that was a big mistake. To top it all Krummenacher went into the sand; some stones hit me and I fell back quite a few positions. I then started to fight back, I reached a group of riders and I got to the front, but I almost fell and they caught up with me. Then it was a constant battle because the bike was not very fast and they always caught me on the straights. I did the best I could but it was difficult to catch the other riders. I was always braking as late as possible and always about to fall because I was losing the front end, so in the end I decided to stay back and try to overtake on the final curve. I finished 13th but I hope to do better in Misano.” Esteve Rabat, 11th at 33.634 “My start was not so good and I came across a rider who was stopped and I had to swerve. That put me in the chasing group which was not so fast and I had to push on. We had a battle and I cut the gap a bit. In the end I was 11th, a result that does not really please me, but the weekend was difficult for me and for Honda. I want to thank the team for all their work because they did all they could to put me with the leading group. I hope the next race treats me better.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team: NINJAS IN THE POINTS AT BRNO Today’s Czech Grand Prix saw the Kawasaki Racing Team’s riders, Randy de Puniet and Anthony West, complete a hard race in front of a vast crowd at the Brno circuit. De Puniet, having been strong throughout the previous two days’ practice sessions, started the race from the second row of the grid after a minor mechanical problem during qualifying yesterday prevented him from maintaining the winning pace he’d been setting all weekend. Riding his Bridgestone shod, 800cc Ninja ZX-RR, the 26-year-old Frenchman shot off the line and fought a great battle with Loris Capirossi, Chris Vermeulen and Valentino Rossi before finishing the 22-lap race in 8th position. The sight of four top riders on four different factory teams’ bikes riding together made for quite a colourful spectacle and one which was surely appreciated by the 141,632 race fans who packed in to the circuit today. Gaining another eight championship points at this Czech round, de Puniet now stands at 12th in the championship, with a total of 58 points and six races still to go. West also showed great strength in the race, despite having had a difficult weekend. He started from 16th and, after a very entertaining tussle with Sylvain Guintoli, Carlos Checa, Alex Barros and Toni Elias, rode over the line in 12th place, having overtaken a number of more experienced riders on the way. A relative newcomer to MotoGP, having joined the team in June, West’s inexperience with qualifying tyres proved a major hurdle in yesterday’s qualifying session, as he was unable to use them to their full potential, affecting his starting position. However, two days’ worth of testing is coming up at Brno this week and the 26-year-old Australian can barely wait to get plenty of practice in before the next race at Misano in a fortnight. He won at the Italian track earlier this year in a World Supersport race so, bearing in mind it’s a new circuit on the MotoGP calendar, he may just have a few tricks up his sleeve. Randy De Puniet Position: 8th “My start was much stronger than in the past but not qualifying on the first row yesterday, as I’d hoped, was a bit of a handicap. We tried a harder race tyre yesterday, and it didn’t feel right, but I still had some grip problems with the one I used today, and some spinning, which made it a bit too risky to try to pass. Still, I tried to give the maximum, and waited for Rossi to make a mistake – which, characteristically he didn’t – but I had a good fight and finished 8th, which isn’t a bad result. I’ve had a good weekend, overall, and I’m looking forward to our two day test tomorrow, when I think we can improve things a little bit, ready for the next race.” Anthony West Position: 12th “I’ve been struggling a bit the whole weekend, to be honest, and that was a really difficult race for me. My start was positive, then it took me a few laps to get in to a rhythm, and I began to feel good about half way through: really strong. I felt I was faster than the other guys in some sections but was losing out in others, with some traction problems and the tyre spinning up, which made it really difficult to fight. For me this race was really hard and there are things we need to work on, both with the bike and with myself. I’m glad we’ve got some testing here tomorrow and I’m definitely looking forward to it: it’s what I really need at the moment. Qualifying was so difficult for me: I went quicker on my race tyres than I did on qualifiers, so I’ve still got a lot to learn. But I’m also really looking forward to the next race. I like Misano and I know it so that should be an advantage.” Michael Bartholemy Kawasaki Competition Manager “Randy has been very fast all weekend, and looked strong, but yes, it was a hard race. With Anthony, I think Brno has been difficult for him but he tried to make the best of it and, given where he started from, his end result is not so bad. I’ve no doubt he’ll be disappointed by it though because he was expecting more. But they both finished in the points and this is good for Kawasaki. What is more, the testing we’re going to be doing in the next couple of days should help the team and Anthony, especially, as he will get time to test on qualifying tyres properly, which he’s never had the chance to do so far. But it is sure to make us all tougher for Misano.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: Czech Grand Prix at Brno Sunday August 19, 2007 Weather: Warm and sunny. Temperature: Air 26 degrees, ground 35. Crowd: 141,632. HAYDEN REWARDED FOR HIS EFFORTS WITH PODIUM PLACE This was not a classic MotoGP race by any stretch, but a crowd of 141,000 watched Casey Stoner (Ducati) record his seventh win from 12 races as John Hopkins (Suzuki) finished a distant second and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) managed a fighting third place here at Brno. With a 26-degree ambient temperature and a track at a moderate 35-degrees, the lights went out to signal the start of this 22-lap race. Stoner, from pole, immediately set about his task, cleanly leading the field into turn one. By the end of lap one it was apparent that Stoner was unlikely to be troubled. Hopkins similarly, was edging out a gap over third-placed Hayden and by the end of lap two the leaders were turning in lap times in the low to mid 1m 58 second bracket – times the others found hard to match. On lap five Stoner enjoyed a 1.1 second lead over Hopkins who in turn held Hayden and fourth-placed Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) at bay quite comfortably. The action was all downfield as a fight for fifth place erupted between Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki). On lap nine Rossi edged past Capirossi for fifth, but the former World Champion would shortly have to surrender that place to Vermeulen who had got into a rapid rhythm, carving his way past Capirossi on lap 12 and then taking Rossi on lap 14. On lap 16 Capirossi would retake Rossi for sixth. Even de Puniet was in on the action and although he tried all he knew to get on terms with Rossi, he would remain just over half a second behind at the flag. By lap 18 the leaders were spread out along the 5.403km of Brno by these margins: Stoner by 4.7 seconds from Hopkins, who had 6.8 seconds over Hayden, who in turn bettered Dani in fourth by 2.3 seconds. It was not quite a procession – but nor was it a riveting race. Perhaps the most significant feature of this weekend in the Czech Republic is the state of the World Championship points table with six rounds left to run. Stoner now has a 60 point lead over Rossi with 246 points to Rossi’s 186. Dani Pedrosa sits third with 168, while Suzuki riders Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins have 124 points apiece. Nicky Hayden said: “Well I’m pretty happy with the podium and I feel like we’ve done a decent job this weekend. Yesterday afternoon we made quite a big change on the front forks and I liked it a lot. When I got into third position on lap two I was thinking ‘now you’ve got to get on his back wheel’ and for about three corners it was looking pretty. But then I got onto the straight, looked up and realised that really I was just dreaming. So I just kept my rhythm and I really feel like I got the best out of the bike, myself and the tyres today – I don’t feel like I left much on the table. So thanks to my team because those guys did a good job.” Fourth-placed Dani Pedrosa said: “Fourth position is the maximum we could get today and at least I’ve closed the gap a little to second in the Championship. Still, I’m frustrated after the race today because I didn’t feel like we could use all the potential of our package. For the first few laps I couldn’t get enough heat into the rear tyre. This meant I wasn’t able to maintain my position. Then after four or five laps I could feel more heat in the tyre, but by this time the leaders had gone, and Nicky too. We have to try to keep the third place in the championship and at the same time try to go forward to get second.” Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V), 10th, said: “It seems a little strange to say it but I’m satisfied with tenth. The team has done a lot of hard work this weekend and I think we achieved as much as possible. Now we have a two-day test here at Brno. I was fighting with Guintoli and Elias and this was much more fun than riding alone – there was a lot of overtaking. On the engine side we are now in a good situation, but we still need to optimize chassis and tyres.” The injured Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) rode a plucky race to 11th and said: “I was very tired at the finish of the race, it was much tougher than I expected, all the direction changes on this track didn’t help. For me it was very important to come back in time to race at Brno and I made it. Considering my condition 11th place is not so bad. The bike was very good but in my condition I could not push as hard as I needed to in order to test the latest modifications to the bike.” Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) rode to 14th and said: “All weekend we’ve had front-end chattering issues. We tried to fix this problem in warm-up this morning by trying a harder front tyre and we had a little less chattering but after few laps the problem returned and this meant that in the race we couldn’t push hard. It’s clear to us that the engine is smoother and has more potential, but with this turning problem we cannot use this potential. Tomorrow is a very important test for us to solve the problem of chatter and therefore find better turning ability and corner speed for the last part of the season when we really need to be getting improved results.” Kurtis Roberts (Roberts KR212V) was 15th. He said: “For some reason the thing bogged down off the line. I’d got a good jump, and it just died. That made life difficult, because instead of being able to pass (Makoto) Tamada and (Ivan) Silva in one lap and be done with them, it took a long time. Their bikes are so much faster right now than ours: I’d set ’em up and set ’em up, then block pass them, and they’d get me back on the drive out of the corner or up the hill. It just frustrates you. It took four or five laps when I should have been with Nakano up ahead. I struggled with tyres after that.” Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) did not ride this weekend after suffering a herniated disc in his back. He is, however, expected to be fit for the next race at Misano in Italy in two weeks time. Melandri said: “It was frustrating having to watch the race from the pit wall, especially having worked really hard over the summer to recover from the broken ankle. My neck has been in some pain ever since Laguna Seca but I never thought it would stop me from racing here at Brno. Unfortunately on Friday morning I had a hernia between the C5 and C6 vertebrae and I lost all strength in my left arm and hand. Now my only thought is to get fit as soon as possible and make sure I am ready to race again at Misano.” Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) won his seventh 250cc race from 11 starts this season, with Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW) in second and Mika Kallio (KTM) third. It was an easy win for Lorenzo despite the best efforts of a determined Dovizioso. Lorenzo lead from pole and was shadowed by Dovi, with Alex de Angelis (Aprilia), who was later to crash out after tangling with Kallio in the closing stages of this 20-lap race, and Kallio hot in their wheel-tracks. Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RS250RW) crashed out on lap two. The lead pair were in a race of their own as they levered their advantage over the rest of the field. Then, as has so often been the pattern this season, Lorenzo upped the pace and his game Italian rival Dovizioso had no traction left with which to respond. Julian Simon (Repsol Honda RS250RW) finished eighth and his team-mate Shuhei Aoyama (Repsol Honda RS250RW) was ninth in a very close dice (by mere hundredths of a second) for the final top ten placings. Dovizioso said: “The new parts from Honda are very good and we are now faster and closer to Lorenzo, but not quite close enough to make up the difference. In the first part of the race I could run very fast and I had a good rhythm. But when the rear started to slide I had to accept second. But I have lowered the track record of Dani Pedrosa. This is very important for me. This is not a track I like very much so I am satisfied with my race. Thanks to all my team for all the work they have done for me this weekend. We couldn’t do more but now we have the bike to fight for the win at the next races.” The 250cc points table now shows Lorenzo comfortably ahead with 216 points, Dovi fighting hard in second with 186 and Alex de Angelis third on 176 points. The 125cc race was an intense encounter with Hector Faubel scoring his third race win of the series so far. Mattia Pasini was second (both Aprilia) and local hero Lukas Pesek (Derbi) finished third. The World Championship leader going into this race Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia) was fourth. Faubel was first into turn one from the lights, hounded by Pasini. Pesek, who started from fifth on the grid, had a poor start, but muscled his way back up to fifth by the end of lap two. It looked early on as if Pasini, who now led, with Talmacsi on his tail, would ride clear of the field. But the 1.8 second gap they held over Gadea in third would soon disappear. By lap seven it was reduced to 0.7 seconds and by lap 11 of this 19-lap race a five-man group featuring Pasini, Gadea, Faubel, Talmacsi and Pesek was well clear of the chasing pack. But on lap 17 Gadea crashed out of contention giving Pasini a chance to break clear by 0.7 seconds from Faubel. But in his efforts to increase that advantage Pasini drifted wide onto the dirt and allowed his pursuers to draw within striking range. The last lap saw Talmacsi briefly lead and Pesek momentarily hold second, before Faubel and Pasini put their stamp on first and second at the flag. Pesek in third became the first Czech rider on a podium at his home race for 36 years to the delight of the huge crowd. Esteve Rabat (Repsol Honda RS125R) finished 11th and his team-mate Bradley Smith (Repsol Honda RS125R) 13th. The World Championship points table now looks like this: Faubel 179, Talmacsi 169, with Pesek and Tommy Koyama (KTM) tied in third place with 129 points each. Rabat said: “My start was not so good because one rider nearly stopped in front of me and I had to close the gas. That left me in a slow group, but I got to the front of it and finished 11th in the end. I’m not happy with this result either for myself or for Honda – it’s been a tough weekend for us. I have to say many thanks to my team, they’ve worked very hard for me.” Smith said: “The start wasn’t one of my best, but in the first corner I ran wide off the race line and that was my big mistake. Then Krummenacher ran off the track in front of me and his rear wheel threw up a lot of dust and stones and I lost a little concentration. Then I passed a few riders and caught the group in front of me and managed to leave them. But I was braking too late into corners to stay ahead and nearly lost the front. I hope to make up for this with a better result at Misano.” HONDA RIDER TEAM QUOTES: MotoGP. Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda: 3rd. “Well I’m pretty happy with the podium and I feel like we’ve done a decent job this weekend. Yesterday afternoon we made quite a big change with the front forks and I liked the results a lot. When I got into third position on lap two of the race I was thinking ‘now you’ve got to get on his back wheel’ and for about three corners it was looking pretty good. But then I got onto the straight, looked up and realised that really I was just dreaming. So I just kept my rhythm and I really feel like I got the best out of the bike, myself and the tyres today – I don’t feel like I left much on the table. So thanks to my team because those guys did a good job. Hopefully we can keep this form going and get a little bit stronger from now on. I’d also like to dedicate this podium to Cedric Laprael, the parts guy in the Repsol Honda Team, who isn’t here this weekend because he had a parachuting accident during the summer break. Get well Cedric. The team’s going to stay for a couple of days testing with some new parts from Honda and a lot of Michelin tyres so we can to try and bridge the gap to these front guys.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th. “Fourth position is the maximum we could achieve today and at least I’ve closed the gap a little to second in the championship which is somewhat positive. Still, I’m frustrated after the race today because I didn’t feel like we could use all the potential of our package. For the first few laps I couldn’t get enough heat into the rear tyre which meant I wasn’t able to maintain my position and I was passed by a few riders. Then after four or five laps I could feel more heat in the tyre but by this time the leaders had gone, and Nicky too. I pushed as hard as I could for the whole race but the lap times just weren’t there and my pace was slowing steadily. I’m frustrated because we haven’t made the improvements in the package I was hoping for. We must work hard during the test over the next two days. Obviously, to fight for the title is very difficult, but I’m not going to give up this season. We have to try to keep the third place in the championship and at the same time try to go forward into second.” Carlos Checa, LCR Honda: 10th. “It seems a little strange to say it but I’m satisfied with tenth. The team has done a lot of hard work this weekend and I think we achieved as much as possible. Now we have a two day test. I was fighting with Guintoli and Elias and this was much more fun than riding alone – there was a lot of overtaking. On the engine side we are now in a good situation, but we still need to optimize chassis and tyres.” Toni Elias, Gresini Honda: 11th.”I was very tired at the finish of the race, it was much tougher than I expected, all the direction changes on this track didn’t help. For me it was very important to come back in time to race at Brno and I made it. Considering my condition 11th place is not so bad. The bike was very good but in my condition I could not push as hard as I needed to in order to test the latest modifications to the bike.” Shinya Nakano, Konica Minolta Honda: 14th.”All weekend we’ve had front-end chattering issues. We tried to fix this problem in warm-up this morning by trying a harder front tyre and we had a little less chattering but after few laps the problem returned and this meant that in the race we couldn’t push hard. It’s clear to us that the engine is smoother and has more potential, but with this turning problem we cannot use this potential. Tomorrow is a very important test for us to solve the problem of chatter and therefore find better turning ability and corner speed for the last part of the season when we really need to be getting improved results.” Kurtis Roberts, KR212V: 15th.”For some reason the thing bogged down off the line. I’d got a good jump, and it just died. That made life difficult, because instead of being able to pass (Makoto) Tamada and (Ivan) Silva in one lap and be done with them, it took a long time. Their bikes are so much faster right now than ours: I’d set ’em up and set ’em up, then block pass them, and they’d get me back on the drive out of the corner or up the hill. It just frustrates you. It took four or five laps when I should have been with Nakano up ahead. I struggled with tyres after that. I was catching Nakano, and I could tell he was having the same issues I was. Then it started chattering and sliding much worse. We just did all we could do to get 15th. We can only go round the corners so fast. We are still missing out on acceleration and top speed. Hopefully, some engine upgrades will come along soon.” Chuck Aksland – Team Manager Team Roberts. “We’re all hoping to get some new engine bits eventually, but it sounds like the tyre / chassis combination was the biggest set-back today. Kurtis said he didn’t really have too much grip, losing the front and pushing the thing around quite a bit, and spinning a lot. Hopefully the weather will co-operate and we’ll get to test some tyres tomorrow or Tuesday. We need to find out which constructions and ompounds work best with our bike. Things have moved on since we have last been able to test some tyres and hopefully we can find a combination that works better then what we have now. We’d also like the opportunity to do some more back to back with the two chassis we have. There are differences between them, and the newer one should be better but we have not yet had a good chance to confirm that this is the case. The motor is what it is, but we should be able to improve our lap times by working on chassis and tyres.” Marco Melandri, Gresini Honda: Marco did not race due to a trapped nerve. “It was rustrating having to watch the race from the pit wall, especially having worked really hard over the summer to recover from the broken ankle. My neck has been in some pain ever since Laguna Seca but I never thought it would stop me from racing here at Brno. Unfortunately on Friday morning I had a hernia between the C5 and C6 vertebrae and I lost all strength in my left arm and hand. Now my only thought is to get fit as soon as possible and make sure I am ready to race again at Misano.” 250cc: Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda: 2nd. “The new parts from Honda are very good and we are now closer to Lorenzo, but not quite close enough to make up the difference. In the first part of the race I could run very fast and I had a good rhythm. But when the rear started to slide I had to accept second. But I have lowered the track record of Dani Pedrosa. This is very important for me. This is not a track I like very much so I am satisfied with my race. Thanks to all my team for all the work they have done for me this weekend. We couldn’t do more but now we have the bike to fight for the win at the next races.” Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: 8th.”It was not a good race from me today. My start was not bad and I passed two riders and I was behind the group. But suddenly I started to feel a rear tyre problem and it was impossible to keep my pace and follow the group ahead. I’m a little disappointed with myself. I said sorry to my team because I have not been at my highest level this weekend. ” My start was not bad but from the beginning I was not able to follow the leading group. My pace was constant but not fast enough. In the last corner I was eighth but I made a mistake and missed a gear ran wide and lost one place. In general this weekend was better than recent races. Now we go to Misano where I hope for a better result.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: 16th.”I had a poor start once again and I had to fight back on my own. By mid-race, the rear tyre lost some of its grip and it was really tough to cut the gap with the riders ahead of me. Trying to come back alone was quite complicated and when I eventually rejoined them, it was too late. With a decent start, things would have been different but it’s too late to be sorry about that!” Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda: dnf – crash. Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: dnf – electrical problem. “It’ a pity the bike stopped with an electrical problem but I was still having big issues with the front-end in the race. Losing track time on Friday with a crash and the weather proved costly, I was trying to learn the track and find the right set up.” Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda: dnf – crash. “I made a bad start that then I have been able to recover gaining a satisfying lap time and a good feeling with the bike. But unfortunately during the third lap I began to feel technical problems that made me loose control of my bike and I crashed out. I’m sorry and demoralized because I wanted to have a good race starting from the second row, with the aim to begin my recover. In two weeks we will be in Misano, my second home race where I’ll hope to gain some points, for me and for the team.” 125cc. Tito Rabat, Repsol Honda: 11th.”My start was not so good because one rider nearly stopped and I had to close the gas. That left me in a slow group but I got to the front of the group and finished 11th in the end. I am not happy with this result both for myself and my Honda it has been a tough weekend for us. I have to say many thanks to my team, they have worked very hard for me this weekend.” Bradley Smith, Repsol Honda: 13th.”The start was not one of my best just OK but in the first corner I ran wide of the race line and that was my big mistake. Krummenacher ran off the track in front of me and his rear wheel threw up a lot of dust and stones and I lost a little concentration. Then I passed a few riders and caught the group in front of me and managed to leave them but I was braking too late into corners to stay ahead and nearly lost the front end nearly crashed in the first corner. I hope to make up for this with a better result in Misano.” Alexis Masbou, FFM Honda: 14th.”I’m globally satisfied with my race, knowing that I made a slight mistake in the opening lap. I was 18th within a pack of riders who were in my way, I was able to get away from them and catch the group in front of me.I then passed my immediate opponents to lead the pack with Bradley Smith. In the second half of the race, I diced with three riders: Bradley Smith, Esteve Rabat and Joan Olive. I really felt I could pass them but I wasn’t competitive enough on the brakes and lost the front in the last corner. It’s a pity, I could have finished 11th or 12th! But I am nevertheless satisfied with this battle and I will be working to improve on my qualifying position for the next Grand Prix, in Italy a fortnight from now.” Mike Di Meglio, Kopron Scot Honda: 20th. “I’m very angry for this result, I hoped it was better for me. At the start I collided with an other rider because he was very slow on the middle of the track. I avoided him by miracle! Then around 4th or 5th lap I began to feel chattering problems that prevented me to stay with the group. I’m not satisfied, I hope in the next round.” Joey Litjens, Molenaar Honda: 24th.”I got a very god start ad was racing for 19th place in the opening laps but I dropped back a little and was racing with Cardus and Terol. we were fighting for 22nd for the rest of the race. But I lost out on the run to the start finish line and had to settle for 24th. The bike was good today but the best Aprilia’s had too much power for me. It was a good race for me in one way because only two riders retired and one crashed, but I have to work on my race strategy.. Dino Lombardi, Kopron Scot Honda: 26th. “Suddenly after the start I followed the group wake and in this way I improved my lap time. During the first part of the race I passed a lot of riders but when the tyres finished I was forced to slow down and drive by myself. I’m not completely dissatisfied about my performance, I made better lap time compared to one made on qualify and this is positive for me and make me confident for the next race.” Danny Webb, Molenaar Honda: 28th.The team fixed all the electrical problems we had yesterday but the bike was not 100% but good enough. My start was good and I was in top 25 after the first couple of sections. but on the fast part of the track I started loosing places. After about five laps I was really focused and closed the gap on the group ahead of me and was fighting with Aegerter and I’m really pleased about eating him today.”