Views from the 250cc podium

Sunday, 26 October 2008

Post-race reactions from the top trio in the quarter-litre class in Valencia.

Yuki Takahashi, Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista on the podium at Valencia (250cc)

Marco Simoncelli – Race Winner

`This year has been perfect. It was a great year and this is the best way to finish it. I´m very happy today, it was a fantastic race. The start was not so good, and the first seven laps were very difficult, but after that lap-by-lap I kept my pace. I pushed more, led the race and tried to stay there until the end. Wonderful.´

Yuki Takahashi – Second Placed

`I´m so happy. Until yesterday we had a problem on the front, but today we did some good lap times. It was my last race in 250cc and I wanted a good race. The start was good, then I pushed hard. In the middle of the race the front was sliding, so it was hard to catch Simoncelli.´

Alvaro Bautista – Third Placed

`For sure it was not the expected result. I wanted to win but it was difficult because practice was wet and that made it difficult to get a good setting. The start was not so good, I had problems with the front fork which bounced under braking. I stayed calm and tried to ride around it. It was a good last lap for me, with Kallio´s crash I could get on the podium.´