however he recovered and picked off the
riders in front of him until he reached eleventh spot, riding faster than the race leader even though he was overtaking. From a race in which he could have fought for the podium there is still the satisfaction of having set the fastest lap, and the fact that he can fight with the top riders in any conditions, and is third in the championship. Troy Bayliss was the victim of the harsh conditions, sliding out on the fourth lap whilst preparing to attack, after having shown good pace in the wet morning warm-up.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda
“I’m sorry about how today went because we have the rider and the conditions to win. Alex was the fastest rider in the race, but he jumped the start and unfortunately you pay for those kinds of errors. Without the penalty, today we would have been fighting for the win and the championship situation would also have been much better. Anyway, we are only three Grands Prix in, we may have lost a few points, but Alex has shown that he is a rider fighting for the title. He is quick in all conditions, whether the wet, like today, or in the dry, like two weeks back. It was a shame also because of Troy’s crash, and perhaps it was a little early to try and make up ground, when he could have waited to work out the track conditions a little more and how the tyres worked on it. He is a fighter though, and he gave everything.”

Alex Barros – Camel Honda – 11th
“It was a lost opportunity. The ride-through changed my race, and I had to make up ground from then on. I also had big problems with my vision being fogged, so much so that every lap I not only had to open the visor, but I had to pass my glove over it to clear it some more. I didn’t realize I made a jump start, I thought the bike just imperceptibly moved; then I got a bad start and I was in amongst a group of riders who were making lots of mistakes. It was hard to get by, because they were riding strange lines, but I managed to get past and made it up to seventh behind Melandri, when I realised I had been given the penalty. I went straight in to the pit-lane because you have to if your team and race direction are telling you. It’s a shame because I could have picked up points on Rossi, but instead I didn’t get the chance. I don’t want to think about it any more, and will concentrate on my next objective, Le Mans in two weeks time.”

Troy Bayliss – Camel Honda – retired on the fourth lap ”I’m disappointed because I could have got a good result today. This morning in the warm-up I had a really good feeling in the hard rain and I was confident for the race. However later, in the race was not the same, I got a lot of wheel spin, and after the start I was in about tenth place. There was so much water and on the fourth lap on the long left I lost the rear end. What can I say, sometimes racing’s like this. All I can say is that I’ll be aiming to go well in the next GP.”