Dani Pedrosa
“Yes, I’m very happy. The race was very difficult. All the time pushing, pushing and very hard. The pace was very fast, so I must say thanks to the team because they worked really good and really hard all the weekend. So the tires were perfect, also the bike. So I must be happy on that point. But also about second place in the championship. I didn’t expect that, so after this difficult season second place is not really, really bad, anyway. So I think everybody enjoyed this weekend and, I mean the people, the crowd, and I hope the next season I can enjoy also.”
Casey Stoner
“I didn’t really have anything left. You know, we got a really good start, I led for the first few laps and the lap times seemed to be okay. And, you know, I kept as consistent pace as I could and pretty much pushed the bike as much as I could. I had a few front loses and things like that and we just couldn’t go much quicker. We were doing low 33s and obviously Dani [Pedrosa] was just doing a tenth of a lap quicker or something like that and sometimes I’d catch him back and he’d pull again. So, you know it was very close for a long time during most of the race.
“And then with only a handful of laps to go the left hand side of my rear tire seemed to give way on me and I had a couple of rear end loses so I just decided to give up at that point. Dani rode a perfect race, he didn’t make any mistakes. And definitely running a lot quicker pace than what I expected for the race. So congratulations to him and thanks to my team and everybody for such a fantastic season.”
John Hopkins
“I mean, the ultimate goal today was to go out and get on the podium whether it be the top step, second or third. So, no, we’re happy with what we could take.
“Basically Suzuki has given me a life in MotoGP. It’s made my career and made it what it is today. So I can’t thank them enough. It’s an emotional time right now. It’s the last race with them for five years, so it’s been great. Bridgestone tires have been unbelievable to me. No, I’m just really happy.
“My family’s here. My fiancee’s family’s all here, so it’s a great, unbelievable moment for me and hopefully we’ll be able to share it throughout the evening with the Rizla Suzuki team.”
Nicky Hayden
“Just finished off the season about like it started and pretty much how everything was in between, really. It was tough because I like this track so much. But all weekend, I just-on race tires-could not go anywhere.
“I know an easy excuse right now, but you know I chose all 16’s this week and looking back now, we don’t understand, Michelin don’t understand why they didn’t work. Even the wear on them doesn’t look like they’re wearing right. They just haven’t worked.
“Actually today, we changed the pressure a lot in the tires today, like half a bar, like more than I’ve ever done anything, more to try to get the tire to get hotter and to get it to work. And this morning it actually worked better than it has all weekend. But in the race it was really tough. Actually I felt like a jack-ass because I just stuffed (Marco) Melandri, pushed to try to get by him, but when I did I went straight to 34’s. That’s when I ran into some problems. At that time I still thought if I could get by him-I was doing 33’s-try to make a push at (John) Hopkins, but no, it wasn’t happening. And the last few laps it was just really tough in the left-handers.”
“We changed pressure, not because of the rubber, we just couldn’t get the tire to work. I mean even on the data, I mean the steering lock, they never seen so much opposite steer in places. And to go 2.5 seconds faster in qualifying. I can’t complain about grip all weekend and then put on a qualifier” and go 2.5 seconds faster than he’d gone in practice."
“One thing, I really had to lean by bike out all weekend because I was spinning so much. And, just in general, I use more fuel than him, so they say. And this was about as lean as I’ve had my bike in a long time.”
"It’s over. You know it hasn’t been an easy...but I mean I guess none of them are. So I guess definitely shake this one off and be done with it. It’d have been nice to went out with a good result and had some momentum, but certainly, we’ve got a lot of work to do. It starts when I get over there for a meeting. I guess I’m glad that it’s over. It just seems like nothing’s went right. From the start, really. I’ve never had so many first corner incidents. Best race of the year had a Honda engine break (at Phillip Island). I mean, come on, seems like it’s been one of those years."
Valentino Rossi
So, now the pain is not a big problem, because I have injection before the race with Claudio (Costa), and in the race I was in quite good shape. For sure, not at the maximum, but I was able to ride. The problem was the effort for nothing, and I saw for a lot this time all the people say to me to don't race, but I feel confident. I feel good. It is like I have the situation under control, and I think to be quiet and make a normal race, just for take one point. In fact I was controlled behind Carlos (Checa) and Colin (Edwards), and I think is possible arrive maybe 11th or 12th. I was quite fast anyway.
“But in the braking of the first corner when I shift down, the engine lock, like in Misano race.
“I don't know if you saw on the television, but my bike lock very aggressive. I release the clutch and I slow down. And after, the feeling was not the same, because I have a problem in braking, like always the rear tire locking. So I stop.
“Now they don't understand what is happening in the engine, but something wrong happened. The bike was very slow.”