Aggressive Capirossi brings it home seventh

The three Rizla Suzuki riders at the Polini Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix reflect on a fast and furious battle in the heat of Sepang.

Loris Capirossi - seventh

`It has been a bit of a tough weekend, but I am quite happy today because I tried 100% all race and when you see a podium place that close it makes you try even harder. I struggled a bit to get past Colin Edwards as our bike still needs more speed to be able to overtake other riders - so that is still something we need to work on. Once I got past Colin I immediately caught up with Casey Stoner because he was quite a bit slower over the whole lap than me. I tried to overtake on turn two and then ran wide and he came back past, then on the next lap I went into a corner much faster to get past, but I touched the back of his bike and ran off the track! If I had got by Casey earlier I really believe I could have challenged for the podium, but it was not to be. I really want to say thanks to all my crew because again they have worked really hard this weekend in difficult conditions. We still have to keep pushing really hard for the extra performance we need - I believe in our potential and we really need to start next season with a good bike because I feel strong and still have a good opportunity to fight with the top guys, and I will try everything I can to make that happen.´

Chris Vermeulen - ninth

`It was very hot today and that made it really difficult out there - the track was nearly 20 degrees hotter than it had been all weekend! I got a good start and felt very comfortable on the first lap. After a few laps I was right up with Loris and everything seemed to be working well, but I then had a few issues with front end grip and that continued as the race went on. With about eight laps left the rear grip started to go off, making the front and rear more even, and I was able to pass Randy de Puniet and get up to ninth. I thought we had enough pace to do better today, but that was the best we could mange and we have certainly taken some steps forward. I am now looking forward to see how the improvements we have made recently work at Valencia, which is a slower track and should probably not affect our horsepower deficit so much.´

Nobuatsu Aoki - seventeenth

`The bike was working really well until near the end when we had a bit of problem with the feel of the front end. I thought I could have passed some guys to get a point but unfortunately I wasn´t able to do that and we also had a few engine performance issues that caused my speed to drop – I really hoped it would rain so I could come in and change the bike as I didn´t want to break the engine! I took it easy to the end of the race so that I could finish. I certainly believe from this we now have some very good data to help us for next year and I hope I can help develop the bike for the GP team a lot more.´