Rossi and Burgess react to retaking title lead

Crew Chief to Valentino Rossi in the Fiat Yamaha team, Jeremy Burgess was understandably a happy man at the conclusion of the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland weekend.

Rossi took the runner-up spot in the German MotoGP contest in the rain on Sunday and moved back to the top of the championship, after Dani Pedrosa crashed out of the lead on lap six.

The result saw Rossi back at the top of the standings, 16 points clear of Pedrosa and 20 ahead of race winner Casey Stoner, much to the satisfaction Burgess who commented, `The bonus of the extra points is obviously of some benefit to us and hopefully we can carry that advantage through to the end, but Casey is riding very well too, so we will have to wait and see.´

Asked whether the team had been concerned by Pedrosa´s lightning fast start, before the Catalan rider – who had until today been leading the championship – crashed out on lap six, Burgess replied, `At that stage we were concerned because our target was to get through, to be on the podium. We were aware from our qualifying position that the job ahead of us was going to be a difficult one so our first priority was to get through the rest and then see what was there with Casey and Dani.´

`In the end things panned out differently because Dani wasn´t there after five or six laps and Casey was where we expected him to be and we were able to achieve what we set out to do.´

Rossi himself stated, `This result is positive for me especially because I go back to the top of the ranking and also second place today is not too bad considering this track and the bad conditions. I had a good feeling with my bike and tyres and I had fun riding in the rain.´

`After I found my rhythm and I saw Dani in the gravel trap I tried to take on Casey but he was so fast and it was not possible. I am happy though because I was fast until the end and we have to keep working but we are going in the right way in the wet.´