South Africa GP. Driver´s comments

Dani Pedrosa : ‘To be sincere, it’s worth taking the risk if the result is the highest step of the podium’.
MotoGP. Valentino Rossi, (2nd): ‘That was a very fun race and I am very happy with the result. Really this is the best second I have ever had. I am so happy for Sete. I feel he rode very well and really had the feeling he was riding with a little help for Daijiro. I had a good battle first with Bayliss, then Biaggi and in the end Sete. Who knows what would have happened if there were a few more laps!’MotoGP. Nicky Hayden, (7th): ‘I got a really good start was really aggressive on the first lap, but not so hard for the next few. Some guys got past me and I feel back. I just stayed calm and went to school on these riders and learnt something. It took me a few laps to get past Checa. I just put my head down and rode. Another seventh place but I’m more happy about this seventh than at Suzuka. I felt I really earned this one and put in my fastest lap at the end of the race. I rode my hardest and will take what I learnt this weekend and build on it.’250. Fonsi Nieto, 1.37´562 sec, (7th): ‘The practices had gone well, with a good rhythm and I was happy with how the bike was working. The only problem was that the front tyre would probably not last enough. But I decided to take it anyway. I felt very comfortable riding with the others, making the same times and I even thought that I would be able to be faster. But the front tyre began to loose grip, I had to ride slower every lap and there was nothing I could do. In the end the tyre broke; it was the hardest tyre provided by Dunlop this weekend. Well, now I’m thinking about Jerez and I’ll try to win as much races as possible.’250. Toni Elias, 1.37´490 sec, (8th): ‘I’m happy to have finished the race. After braking the finger ligaments last Friday, riding a bike was a quite complicated thing. I haven’t been able to work on the bike’s settings over the weekend and that’s something I’ve felt during the race. I made a good start and I’ve been fighting, but from the seventh or eighth lap I just couldn’t stand it any longer. The bike had a degradation problem in the front tyre, but I managed to finish the race, that means points, something very important for the Championship. No matter how far we are, it’s a long season and there is a lot left to do.’250. Sebastián Porto, 1.37´178 sec, (4th): ‘It’s been a hard race, I didn’t think that it could be so complicated. The bike didn’t work well, especially the chassis. I also had a problem with the lack of grip and in the second half of the race I noticed that the engine lacked power. The bike isn’t working 100% for the moment, but I’m happy with the team, they’re all doing a great job. I had trouble to get the rhythm during the race because the bike was sliding a lot. Then it improved and I finally managed to finish fourth. Now I have to keep on working because the engine has been too slow. But I’m happy, I’m third in the overall standings and good results are a great help for the team.’250. Héctor Faubel, 1.37´677 sec, (11th): ‘Today has been a complicated day: I had a heavy crash in the warm-up and I hurt my left leg. That made me take the start with less confidence in the bike. Then, just after leaving the pit lane to get to the grid, the brake rubber got stuck and I thought that the engine would stall. I felt also a bit sick. I made a good start and I was riding behind the leading group with Porto until the bike lost performance. I tried to keep the position a couple of laps but it was just impossible. It’s been a very complicated weekend for me and I have to be happy for my eleventh place.’250. Joan Olivé, 1.46´014 sec, (retired): ‘This morning, during the warm-up, I was seventh. I took the start from a back position but I did it well. Bit by bit I managed to make up positions, starting from the thirteenth place, but suddenly, in the second lap the bike began to fail. The engine began to gripe and I had to go back to the garage. I’ll try my best not to let it happen next race and to do it as best as I can in the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez.’125. Dani Pedrosa, 1.41´006 sec, (1st): ‘I knew that I had chances to win because the warm-up had been great. I had a bad start of the race, the clutch got stuck and the bike almost stalled. But I was able to make up positions. During the race I noticed that my bike wasn’t accelerating the way it should; I took the Dovizioso’s and Ui’s slipstream and stayed behind. I was fourth in the last five laps and I wasn’t able to overtake them so I decided to give it all during the last lap. I almost crashed in a corner because the front of the bike slipped a bit when passing Ui, but in the end I managed to win. It was the only way to do it, I was lucky to be able to close all gaps on the straight of the last lap and that the others didn’t manage to pass. I’m sure that if I would have stayed left the others would have managed to do it. But I held on and that helped me a lot. To be sincere, it’s worth taking the risk if the result is the highest step of the podium. I don’t know if this has been my best race, but it’s been with no doubt one of the most difficult races, because the bike didn’t accelerate as I wanted and I had to use the braking areas to compensate it.’125. Pablo Nieto, 1.41´292 sec, (5th): ‘I had problems with the engine and therefore it was difficult to keep up with the other riders on the straight. It was very complicated to overtake them, even in the mixed area, because I was coming from the back and wasn’t even able to reach them. Anyway, the most important is to get as much points as possible and try to get a podium finish soon. The race has had a very fast pace today and almost everybody had the same tyre compound. The truth is that the race didn’t work out well, let’s see if I’m able to improve my times for Jerez.’125. Héctor Barberá, 1.41´981 sec, (13th): ‘The rear tyre of the bike began making trouble in the tenth lap. We had the option of mounting a different one, that probably would have lasted longer, but I hadn’t been able to test it during practice and it was too risky. I decided to use another one and it didn’t work out. It began to shake; I tried to push and ride softer, and managed to finish thirteenth. Now I have a bit more of experience, I finished the race and that’s important. Let’s hope things will work out better in Jerez.’