MotoGP
250 Mugello: Honda riders team quotes
04 giugno 2007  Tom Luthi (Aprilia) led into turn one from the lights, but Bautista soon headed the pack as it sorted itself out into an early race order. By lap six Bautista, Barbera, de Angelis, Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Honda RS250RW) and by now Lorenzo, who started from 20th on the grid, were out front. The intensity of this confrontation showed when Barbera, who was second, ran wide and onto the grass on lap 13. Dovi then began to drop off the pace as the final tours of this track approached (he was 3.46 seconds off the lead trio by lap 19 of this 21-lap race. Lorenzo lead the final lap into turn one until de Angelis slid up the inside on the brakes and as the threesome of de Angelis, Lorenzo and Bautista filed into the chicane, Bautista straight-lined it up the inside of Lorenzo. They touched and Lorenzo went wide to lose traction on the infield and fall. De Angelis then looked in control but Bautista was on a mission and at the final turn he peeled in late on the outside and squeezed up the inside of the Italian on the exit to out-drag him over the line and record his first ever 250cc win. Dovizioso said: “The team have worked really, really hard for me this year and I have been riding hard. The chassis and suspension have been good but I have to ride so hard that my injured leg begins to hurt. We need to find some more power soon.” Sixth-placed Aoyama said: “The race was difficult in the beginning because of the full fuel tank. Then as the race went on and the fuel load decreased I began to get a good feeling with the bike and from the middle to the end of the race I got better and better. Four of us were racing for fifth place; me, Julian (Simon) and Luthi – but I made a mistake on the last lap and finished sixth. But this is my best result of the season and now I’m looking forward to the next race at Barcelona.” Julian Simon (Repsol Honda RS250RW) finished seventh. He said: “The race was very difficult. My start was not so bad and I tried to hang onto the first group but had no choice but to run with the second group. The bike was OK, engine not so bad, and the chassis was good. The only real problem I had was a sliding rear tyre. I really enjoyed the race – a lot of overtaking – real fun, even if the result was not so good.” The World Championship table looks like this: Lorenzo 128 points, Dovizioso 101, de Angelis 95, Bautista 89 and Barbera with 63. Andrea Dovizioso, Kopron Scot Honda: 4th. “I am not satisfied with this result, I rode at 100% and of course took some risks. The machine settings for the fast races is always good but we cannot be 100% because we need horse-power – our competitors have more. The chassis and suspension have been good but trying so very hard in the corners we sometimes have problems with the tyres. I think that trying so hard is not helping with the rehabilitation of my physical problems with my injured leg. If we cannot find some power soon – I don’t know.” Shuhei Aoyama, Repsol Honda: 6th.“The race was difficult in the beginning because of the full fuel tank Then as the race went on I began to get a good feeling and from the middle to the end I was better and better. Four of us were racing for fifth place, me Julian (Simon) and Luthi but I made a mistake on the last lap and finished sixth. But this is my best result of the season and now I am looking forward to the next race at Barcelona.” Julian Simon, Repsol Honda: 7th. “It was a difficult race, just like the whole weekend. I made a good start and I was able to pass a few riders. I was in the group and Barbera passed me once, pushing me to the outside. I lost some time there and the leading group opened a small gap. I tried to catch them but it was difficult because they were already one second ahead and it became too complicated. I stayed there, fighting against Luthi, and then we were joined by Hiroshi and Shuhei and we had a nice fight. I enjoyed the race, though it's not the result I expected. I went off the track with two laps to go and had to make up during the last lap but I wasn’t able to pass Shuhei and Luthi. It’s been a difficult weekend, but we finished the race and we’re looking forward to Barcelona.” Yukio Takahashi, Kopron Scot Honda: 11th.“Today I rode much better than I thought I would before he race started. My priority was not to crash and second to take care of my injured left arm. In the race I used my right arm more than usual I had to push the bars with my right arm instead of pulling with the left, but the last five laps my right arm was very tired. I am very happy to finish the race in 11th my team are also pleased.” Eugene Laverty, LCR Honda: 20th.“I was praying for rain, so I didn’t get my birthday wish. Again I had clutch problems at the start but it was a lot of fun. Cluzel would pass me down the straight every lap, and then I would out-brake him and go ahead in turn one. At the final corner Locatelli out-braked me and I lost the chance of a slipstream to the line.” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: dnf – clutch problem."It's a pity because the warm-up went really well as I was able to improve my lap times and I was expecting to have a good race and to score points again. Anyway, there's no point in lamenting it, what happened. We gained some more experience this weekend, we'll have to put that to good use in the future and now we have to focus on the next Grand Prix." |
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