Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) says: “We have done a good job here at Valencia and we can be happy that we were the first Honda rider home today. Our pace wasn’t enough to compete for the win so we can’t be totally satisfied of course, but overall we’ve had a positive end to the season.”“I was missing some speed in the middle of the corners today which is an area to work on in future, as is improving the stability under braking. I’m disappointed I couldn’t re-pass Spies, but my tires were very worn by the end and I couldn’t fight in the last laps because the grip was dropping off quite a lot and it was difficult to maintain the pace from the first part of the race.”“Anyway it was a good battle with Simoncelli again and I hope there will be more like this next year – it shows that pocket bikes was a good training ground! Overall we have to be satisfied with the job done by Honda, the team and myself throughout the year and I’d like to thank all those involved. The package has improved a lot and, whereas last year we were struggling, this year I’ve been consistently faster. We still have some fine tuning to do for next year – and that can start here in the test on Tuesday.”Ben Spies (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) says: “I’m patting myself and my Monster Yamaha Tech3 crew on the back because to get sixth overall in the points is a great achievement for all of us. It was a good race and once I settled I could see the three Hondas coming back to me quite quickly.”“I kept them about a second in front of me and pounced when I felt confident I could pass them and pull away. They had some acceleration on me off the turns, so I knew when I made the pass it needed to be into a string of corners and not onto a straight. Once I passed Andrea and Marco I put my head down for a couple of laps and got rid of them.”“To finish fourth after last week’s crash in Estoril is the perfect finish to what has been a great season. I said at the beginning of the season that a top five feels like a win and now this feels more like a normal result. I’ve had a better year than I thought I would have, so thanks to my team and all the people around me who have given me unbelievable support. I’ve learned a lot this season and I’m confident I will be even stronger in 2011.”Colin Edwards (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha M1) says: “I wanted to finish the season on a high to reward my crew for all their hard work, but that was way below what I was expecting and to say I’m disappointed and frustrated is an understatement. Right from the start it just didn’t feel like I had any grip when I accelerated.”“We’d set the bike up on the hard tire for most of the weekend but we went for the soft option because the temperature was a little bit lower. But coming out of the corner I didn’t have the grip to stay with anybody and it is a big pity because the changes we’d made to the bike for the hard tire this weekend had helped me feel much more confident and comfortable. Congratulations to Ben though on getting sixth overall. He’s been awesome and he’s only going to get stronger.”Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) says: “Well… to start from the fourth row on the grid was a bit difficult for me but I immediately set my pace trying to catch the guys up there. In the last two days we worked mainly on traction control and our overall package was quite good. Maybe we have been too cautious working on engine mapping and rear tire life so when I was stuck in the second group I had not enough speed in the corners and I was not able to overtake my competitors.”“Honestly I aimed to finish in the top six but this is racing and I am satisfied about my final position in the standing considering the bad accident I suffered in the middle of the season. I want to thank Lucio and the Team for the five years together (two in 250cc class and three in the premier one). We shared good and bad moments and this period was an important part of my career”.Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki GSVR) says: “After having such a difficult weekend with all the problems on Friday and Saturday, today has been a big step for us. This morning in warm-up we went back to a setting that I used in the last races and it quickly felt a little bit better, it wasn’t a big difference but I thought it would be good for the race.”“I wanted to give my maximum in the race and give the team the best result possible today. I had a normal start and made up one position straight away, but then I was behind Loris and I lost some time because he brakes so late and is difficult to pass. When I got past him I pushed to my limit and I got in to a good rhythm – the best I’ve had all weekend. I caught the group fighting for eighth and I finished ninth at the end, but it was a great battle with the others because I managed to overtake them all and it was good fun.”“Before the race started if someone said I could finish ninth I would have signed for that, but after the battle with Hector I am disappointed because I think I could have been eighth! It is a good result for the whole team after a hard weekend, but it is not the result I expected before I came to Valencia because I came with the mental attitude to finish in the top-five.”“Now that we have finished the season we know we have many things that we need to improve on the bike and I also need to improve my riding style, so we have a very hard winter ahead of us – I hope to get to the first race next season with the bike better than it was this year. I will also have more experience so I expect to improve on my results next season.“I would like to the thank Suzuki, all the team, Rizla and all the other sponsors, because if they didn’t help us it would be impossible for us to be racing, so thank-you to all of them. Next year we will certainly be trying even harder and I really believe we can be competitive!”Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki GSV-R) says: “I really want to say thank-you to everybody because I have had three really good years here at Suzuki, the relationship is great and I am so sorry to be leaving – I really love everybody! The luck this year didn’t really help me, we had many small problems and that showed in today’s race.”“I have improved a lot in myself in my time at Suzuki and although our roads are now changing direction, I will for sure have a place in my heart for Suzuki and all the people there – thank-you for everything!”Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) says: “I was hoping for a better result than this to be honest but I am still satisfied because I gave it my best shot. I struggled a little bit to set the same lap times as yesterday and stay with the front guys. I was losing the rear in a few places and maybe with the conditions today we should have gone with the soft tire.”“Even though it had less grip yesterday I felt more confident with the hard so we stuck with it because I thought it would help me stay consistent to the end of the race but it was sliding around a lot. In any case I kept going and I am happy with my performance.”Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) says: “I don’t want to talk about the race. I would rather look to the future because I think we have seen today that the right choice right now for me is to end this story and start a new one. Having said that it has been a big part of my life and I am the person I am today partly because of MotoGP.”“I want to thank all the people who have stayed close to me and also those who have been against me because they have helped me to grow. Thanks to all the sponsors who have accompanied me over these years and everybody who has worked with me, my family and my fans, who I will see again next year in another championship.”Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda) says: “I want to thank my team and sponsors and all the people, who helped me this year. It was a tough year and not easy. Also the last race was tough and difficult. At the end I could finish the race, but I am not satisfied with the way I did it. I almost always finished the races in the points and I had some good experience this year, in my first year in the MotoGP class and I want to thank all the staff who was involved in it.”Aleix Espargaro (Pilota Pramac Racing Team Ducati) says: “I am truly sorry for the final position. This was my last race in this Team where I found true friends and I wanted to achieve a good result. I do not have much to say about the race, I tried to overtake my rivals but my pace was not so quick to allow me to approach them.”“I would like to thank the Pramac Racing Team, Paolo Campinoti and all the technicians who accompanied me during this year. It’s been a great experience where I learned a lot and I’m sure it will be useful for me for the rest of my career.”Carlos Checa (Pilota Pramac Racing Team Ducati) says: “I wanted to finish this race in every way and I did. The result is not exceptional, but the feeling with my bike was not that strong to allow me to do better. It’s a really good start, but unfortunately after six laps my pace was not fast enough for me to hold the position won.”“I was first passed by Bautista in the seventh round, while the next lap I passed Capirossi and Aoyama. Thank you anyway to Pramac Racing Team for allowing me to run these last two races while riding their bikes and I wish them a successful future.”
