MotoGP top three review Australian Grand Prix

Casey Stoner – Race Winner

`I wasn´t disappointed in Japan, the two crashes that I had was when I lost the championship. Valentino has ridden really well and was hard to beat this year. This morning we changed some things on the bike and felt comfortable. We knew that the race was going to be hard, as normally you cant get away here, but we did. Nicky was with me for a while but then he seemed to drop off. To be World Champion last year and in running for second this year is great; If we can challenge for the title again next year it will be fantastic, and if not for now the home victory is something that we can be happy with.´

Valentino Rossi – Second Placed

`For me it was very, very exctiting. I never had even one second to relax. Unfortunately my mistake in qualifying left me on the fourth row, but I was confident because I knew that I had good pace. There were some big battles. De Angelis crashed in front of me and I missed him by about a centimetre, and I pushed and pushed until I reached Lorenzo and Toseland. I lost a bit of time with James, but when I got in front I upped my pace to get away. I saw Nicky getting bigger and bigger, and thought it might be possible and that I had to try. On the last lap I was able to do it.´

Nicky Hayden – Third Placed

`At the beginning it was really fun. It was good to be at the front keeping the pressure on Casey. This track is so hard on tyres that I knew it would be a gamble and nearly went harder today; in fact, on my sighting lap I put a harder tyre on before changing it on the grid. This season has been so hard, but we´ll keep pushing for results and to salvage something until it´s over.´