Home News Motorsports MotoGP Assen results and rider quotes: A Rossi show

MotoGP Assen results and rider quotes: A Rossi show

June 29, 2013

Valentino Rossi delivered a faultless performance today to win the Grand Prix of The Netherlands, his 80th Premier class victory and his first win since 2010. Having shown race winning pace all weekend in all conditions ‘The Doctor’ was faultless in today’s TT race. Full race report coming up in a bit.

Valentino Rossi

“Today was something special, this is one of the best victories in my career because it is one of the most wanted and expected for such a lot of time. I’m so happy because I won a real race where all my opponents were very strong and very fast, apart from Jorge with his injury. It was great from the beginning, I had a good feeling, I could overtake on braking and I felt good on the bike. It was difficult but the finish line was calling me so I had to arrive as fast as possible. We have made a step with the bike, I can ride in a better way so we have to try and stay with the top guys every weekend. Jorge rode an incredible race, we have to say a special great congratulations because he had great courage to do this and also he made an important step for his Championship.”

Cal Crutchlow

“I am really happy to be back on the podium after the disappointment of Barcelona. It was a great battle right to the end and once again I showed my speed and I was close to finishing second and that would have matched my best result in MotoGP. But obviously after starting from pole position I wanted to win the race and had it not been for me struggling with the full fuel tank in the first five laps, I think I had a chance to fight with Valentino. I can’t turn the bike on a full fuel load and then Jorge passed me and he was riding amazing considering his physical condition. It took me a while to get back by him but then I chased down Dani and Marc but it was a case of too little, too late. It was close with Marc on the last lap and I think we touched, so we were lucky he got back on the throttle when he did otherwise both of us could have been in the grandstand! Being back on the podium is great for Monster, Tech 3 and Yamaha and it is another positive result for the Championship. Before the start of the season, if somebody had said I would have been on the podium three times in seven races and been so consistently fast with the best riders in the world, then I would have been happy. Now we go to Germany in a positive frame of mind and hoping to get back on the rostrum again.”

Marc Marquez

“Overall the pace was faster than I had expected. At the start and throughout the race both Dani [Pedrosa] and Valentino [Rossi] were very strong. In fact, Valentino was simply faster than us today. I could only pass Dani towards the end, because at first I had a lot of trouble. Once I passed Dani, I tried to catch Valentino, but my arm began to affect me and I couldn’t brake in my normal way due to my injured finger. In the end we took 20 points after a good battle with Cal [Crutchlow] and think I defended pretty well against him. In general, we can say we’ve done a good job all weekend. I have a lot of respect for Jorge today, he showed real strength and he did a great job. I would also like to congratulate Valentino, as it’s always good for motorcycle racing when he’s up at the front!.”

Dani Pedrosa

“Today I started well, saving a crash at the very beginning with cold tyres and I was able to continue and put in some good laps. Then I had problems with the tyres, both in the front and the rear. Still, I tried to hold on for as long as possible, because I don’t want it to be an excuse. I sat behind Rossi for several laps, then as the race progressed it was more and more difficult to keep up, especially when Marc [Marquez] and Crutchlow caught me. I guess everyone was sliding around behind us, but I found that I could not control the bike on entry to some corners and that made me lose touch, especially in the closing laps. Overall this weekend we had very negative feelings and in the end we managed an ok race. Now it’s time to move on, relax and get ready for the next round. Finally, congratulations to Jorge [Lorenzo], because what he did today and how he did it was very impressive! I take my hat off to him.”

Jorge Lorenzo

“It would have been impossible to believe some minutes after my crash that this could happen. We were brave to make the operation the same day, if I had waited to Friday the doctors would not have let me race. We made the race today and I was very brave in the first laps because passing the riders with a collarbone like this under braking was really hard. I felt quite good physically at the beginning of the race but after lap seven every lap was worse; it was more difficult to change direction, to brake and to accelerate so I couldn’t do more than fifth position. We only lost two points to Dani who is leading the Championship. This fifth position is better than any victory I have had in my career. I hope to have a good recovery for Germany, I will not be 100% but I hope to be better than here. The victory for Valentino and the third for Crutchlow are good for the Championship, I would have preferred Cal to finish in front of Marc but you can’t always have perfection! I am happy for Valentino, more than two years without winning has been hard for him so I’m happy for my box partner. After Aragon I think he made some improvements and here he took profit from the opportunity. Lets see what happens in Sachsenring as last year we had some issues and the Hondas were strong but I think if I can improve my physical condition I can be more competitive than this race.”

Andrea Iannone

“It was a very difficult day for me. I never managed to really improve from the first practice sessions this weekend, and I never had a good feeling with the bike. We’ll keep trying to improve; now we’ll go to Misano for a test, and I’ll certainly focus more on the electronics, as that’s an area where I struggled a lot. I have to learn to give more precise feedback to my engineers and technicians so that I can have an easier time in the race. This is a particular track where there’s very little braking, and that doesn’t suit our bike very well, as it’s very physical and quite difficult on corner entry. We’ll put this behind us and go to the Sachsenring.”

Michele Pirro

“I still have to recover. I started to get arm pump on the second lap, and I had to back off because I couldn’t ride anymore. I tried to continue on without making mistakes, but I’m disappointed because I started pretty well and I certainly could’ve done better. The bike still isn’t how I’d like it to be, and I really had a hard time riding it. In the beginning I followed Nicky and Dovi and battled a little with Andrea [Iannone], but then I backed off. It’s certainly a race to forget, and now we’ll see if we can do better at the Sachsenring.”

Alvaro Bautista

“We finished the race, and this was above all the main goal of this weekend. It’s a small consolation, but after two setbacks this was very important. In the race I didn’t have a perfect feeling with the bike, because it was unstable and moving around a lot. Unfortunately, with the weather conditions being so variable we did not have the time required to find the best setup. At first I tried to stay calm by getting heat into the tyres, trying not to take excessive risks. Maybe I lost a bit too much time then, and later from the middle of the race I had problems with the rear brake and I could not slow down as well as I would have liked. It took a few laps to be able to adapt to the situation, and after that I tried to finish in the best possible way. It was not really a good race but it was important to finish, in order to think about the future with greater serenity.”

Bryan Staring

“I was convinced that I could do much better. For a while I battled as part of the group but then I was not consistent enough until the end. For this reason I am a little disappointed with my performance. It’s further experience but I would have preferred to end it with a different result. However, I’ve learnt some important things that I hope to put into practice in future races.”

Andrea Dovizioso

“Considering the expectations, the race didn’t go so badly. I followed Nicky for the entire race, and I rode really hard; it was so tough to do that pace here. The gap is still big, but compared to our gap in practice, we weren’t as far back on lap times. We pushed hard for the whole race, taking risks to try and catch Espargaro and Bautista. We were able to do it, but unfortunately we were really at the limit and weren’t able to battle with them. In the last chicane, I made a pass on Nicky that was on the limit, but I don’t think it was dirty. That chicane is famous for that, but unfortunately our battle on the brakes made us slow on the exit, and Smith passed us on acceleration. It’s a shame, but it just shows our difficult situation. Let’s say we limited the damage somewhat today.”

Nicky Hayden

“It’s been a very hard weekend, right from the beginning. There wasn’t much grip here, which certainly didn’t help us. We tried hard to make the bike better, but we couldn’t ever really get it working. It was quite difficult in the race, especially in change of direction. The bike was moving a lot, and I was pushing the front in a couple of the fast corners. I was really at the limit, and every time I tried to push a little harder to close the gap, I’d run a bit wide or lose the front. On the last lap, I didn’t get a good run through turn 15 and Dovi came up the inside and pushed us both wide, so Smith beat us both to the line. It was a racing move, and anyway, the real problem is we got beat by 33 seconds, which shows how far behind we are.”

Bradley Smith

“With my wrist injury continuing to cause me a problem, today was probably my hardest race of the year. After the operation immediately after Catalunya I expected it to be better than the last two races but to be honest I have a few more problems now. So it was a good race and to be able to get ninth on the last lap is a good situation. The distance to Bradl was quite similar to Barcelona and truthfully this ninth feels better than the sixth I got in Barcelona because today I really had to battle and nobody crashed. The gap to the front is quite similar to Barcelona and obviously the big positive of the weekend was starting on the second row. I knew finishing seventh was going to be a best case scenario because I knew Jorge was going to be coming through. I stayed consistent and my pace in the second half of the race was strong. I still need to work on the set-up for the early laps but I can go to Germany with a lot of confidence. I’ve scored another top 10 and beaten two very experienced riders on the final lap. And hopefully the wrist will be less of a problem at Germany and I can be in a bit less discomfort than here.”