Quotes of the day – Phillip Island – Sunday
Added on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Quotes of the day – Phillip Island – Sunday
Today’s race winner, Casey Stoner, delightedly said after his triumph, “It’s not been our year to challenge for the championship and that’s a little bit disappointing, but at least we’ve had a good run and learnt a lot of things. So it’s definitely not all bad. To come back in Portugal was a really nice result for us. Jorge (Lorenzo) was too quick on the day but we almost had the pace to win the race, and we’re very proud of the team to have come back that quickly. This race, after the warm up in Portugal, was just a run off of that.
“We struggled all weekend with rear grip and were trying to get the bike hooked up a little bit better out of turns, but I think everybody was suffering from similar problems. So we did the best we could for the race, and the bike was working pretty well.
When asked about his return to fitness, Stoner said: “Physically, I was able to do the same from start to finish, and I was just really happy with the way everything was working. Especially with my body; every lap I kept going past the point where I used to just hit my wall. It made me smile, and I enjoyed each lap after that. It’s very nice to be back here, and I thank Marlboro for allowing me to use this livery and to the team and everybody for supporting me. To do three from three is a very nice way to end the year for me.” He added.
Second placed Valentino Rossi commented: “I read on my board that Lorenzo was out, so I tried for the victory. Casey set a good pace, but my bike setting was good so I tried to follow him at 100%, but also had to remember not to make any mistakes for the championship after Lorenzo’s crash. It was a great battle. I tried, at one part of the race it was possible to attack, but at the end it was too risky and anyway Casey had a great race.
“These 20 points are so important for my championship. I have to thank Yamaha and all the guys in my team because we worked well this weekend and now we have a 38-point advantage with two races to go and we will try to do better next week in Sepang.
“I think with 38 points it’s possible (to win the title in Sepang). Sepang is a great circuit, one of my favourites and I like it a lot. Usually the Yamaha is very strong over there, so I’m quite confident. We have to keep the concentration. We have the first match point for the championship but we have to remain focused and try to improve the result. This is one of the best second places of my career.”
Commenting on his opening lap incident, Jorge Lorenzo said: “I made a good start but I was very close to Nicky and didn’t expect him to brake so quickly, so I touched Nicky and I couldn’t stay on the bike. My front brake broke and I couldn’t brake on the corner. I had two options; to go straight or try to take the corner, I tried to take the corner but I didn’t have a brake and the rear tyre didn’t stay so I crashed. I have a little damage on my nose and finger, but it could be worse.”
